Thank you.
If you know this song, please sing it out loud.
If you know this song please sing it out loud.
If you know this song, please sing it out loud.
I am a C-H-R-I-S-T-I-A-N
and I have C-H-R-I-S-T-N
my A-G-A-R-T-N
I will L-I-V-E-E-T
E-R-N-A-L-L Y
Alright, you all did pretty good, but it needs to be a little louder than this, alright?
Now, we're gonna go faster, so you gotta keep up, alright?
I am a C
I am a C-H
I am a C-H-R-I-S-T-I-A-N
And I have C-H-R-I-S-T-N, my H-E-A-R-T, and I will L-I-V-E-E-T-E-R-N-A-L-L-Y.
All right, we're going to see how fast you can go, okay?
Are you all ready?
I am a C.
I am a C-H.
I am a C-H-R-I-S-T-I-A-N.
And I have C-H-R-I-S-T-N, my H-E-A-R-T, and I will L-I-V-E-T-E-R-N-A-L-Y.
All right, good job, kiddos.
You all can sit down.
If you need a bulletin, lift your hand nice and high.
One of our ushers will come by and get you a bulletin.
We have our service soul winning times as well as our church stats.
Is there any soul winning that needs to be reported for the last few days
that missed the soul winning captain by chance?
All right.
And then we also have our expecting ladies and prayer lists.
Continue to pray for them.
We have our upcoming events.
We have the Arlington Soul Winning Blitz.
October 29th, October 30th will be our Sunday Sundays.
October 31st is our Texas Chili Cook Off.
There will be prizes for those who enter the competition and win.
No participation trophy.
And if you bring beans, you're automatically disqualified
and we'll call you a heretic.
Number fifth, music recital from two to four.
You need to sign up by Wednesday night.
November 10th through the 12th, we have our Matamoros Soul Winning Trip.
Please make sure to sign up for that.
November 23rd is our Thanksgiving Desert Fellowship.
December 2nd is the ladies' Christmas party.
Also, please sign up for those, or for the Christmas party
when we get a sign up sheet for that.
Business meeting, we are having a business meeting next Sunday night,
October 16th, immediately following the evening service.
So if you are a member, I would ask you to please attend.
And our music recital, again, the notes are there.
It is for the ages between five and 18.
So just make sure that you sign up,
and we'll get you a time slot for our rehearsal.
It's October 22nd.
And so that's pretty much all I have as far as bulletin concerned.
Thank you so much for everybody who's helped participate in our conference.
It's a lot of fun to host these things
and to kind of celebrate our kiddos and try to help them to have a good time.
And I also like doing a lot of these competitions,
and we have the spelling bee competition in a lot of these events,
just to kind of help all of our kids to learn how to compete,
yet have a good attitude.
And sometimes feelings are hurt. That's okay.
That's just a good opportunity to help kids to learn that life is not fair.
And you need to learn how to deal with wins, losses, and everything.
Some people are good at winning. Some people are not good at winning.
Some people are good at losing. Some people are not good at losing.
Yet it is life, and so we want people to learn how to do these things.
Also, I think competition brings up the best in all of us.
And if you realize it, the Bible teaches that even our Christian life is a race,
and only one receive it the prize.
And so we're supposed to run the Christian race the best that we can.
There's rewards to be had in heaven,
and God doesn't hand out participation trophies.
He hands out those for those who actually bear the fruit,
and are diligent, and have a good heart.
And so while you may not like competition,
that's just the reality of the world you live in.
And we all will be judged one day,
and stand open before God, and be judged according to our works.
And so it's important to learn how to perform under pressure,
how to handle certain situations, learn how to prepare, study.
And those who handle themselves well will be rewarded in heaven.
Now, for the kids that show up to the last service of the conference Sunday night,
they're going to be rewarded because there's even cooler prizes now.
So now there's like a sword, and there's like an axe,
and there's like, there's a ninja sword, okay?
So, I mean, there's some cool stuff. There's some cars up here.
But, again, it's a competition.
So, you know, I'm hoping you kids are going to compete, all right?
Now, it's going to be the same rules, only one prize per session,
but we're going to have some more Bible trivia,
and we're going to have some sword drills.
Now, I've been flip-flopping, so it was the youngest got to go first on Thursday,
oldest on Friday, youngest in the morning, so it's going to be oldest this evening.
The middle, you know, sorry you all are always in the middle, all right?
Life's not fair. Sometimes the first is last, sometimes the last is first, all right?
So, now how this works is any child, though, can answer the question.
It's not only old kids that can answer the question.
So if you five-year-olds can outpace these other kiddos and go for it, okay?
But everyone gets to participate.
So I'm going to ask two questions.
And, yes, you have to be a child, okay, Ethan? No, I'm just kidding.
And anybody that can answer the question right gets to come on down and get a prize, okay?
Now, if you know the answer, lift up your hand,
because if you shout it that you don't get to win, you have to lift up your hand, right?
So it's the first hand up that I see that can answer the question correctly that will be rewarded.
Here's my first question.
What is the name of Adam's first son?
Kang, she got it. Come on down. Good job.
All right, this one's going to be a little bit hard.
These are supposed to be a little harder questions, okay?
How many children were killed by bears that mocked Elisha?
No. No.
Nope.
I couldn't hear your number.
No.
All right, it was a tough question, okay?
It was forty-two, all right? That was close, okay?
We'll ask, we'll ask, that was my hard question.
We'll ask Dylan's hard question, because we got lots of hard questions, all right?
What was the name of the city that Lazarus was risen from the dead from?
And, all right.
I didn't think anybody could come up with this one.
Probably not even the sound booth, all right?
Okay, all right.
Well, I'll ask another question.
Name one of the ten plagues of Egypt.
Leprosy is an incorrect answer.
Locust, there we go, all right.
Come on down.
All right, now we're going to do a sword drill.
Everyone can participate.
So, it's the first one to get it, stand up.
Now, some of you smaller kids, your parents might have to point if you stand up, okay?
But, if you got your Bible out, or if you could just quote it.
John chapter 1 verse 14, go.
Third time's the charm, come on down, all right.
Elise is eager, all right, I like it.
Next, next sword drill.
Psalms 139 verse 14.
Psalm 139 verse 14.
I will praise thee for I am fearfully and wonderfully made marvelous are thy works and that my soul knoweth right from thee.
Very good, she is fearfully and wonderfully made, come on down.
Remember, you can quote it, all right.
It's the last one for the older group.
Leviticus 20 verse 13.
Liam.
Nailed it, man.
This search they can quote John 3 16 and Leviticus 20 13, all right.
Now, we're going to 13 and under, all right.
So, you older guys, you got eliminated by Liam, so sorry.
13 and under.
What is the name of the book of the Bible that we first learn about Moses?
Exodus is the right answer, come on down.
All right.
What is the name of the Jewish queen that saved the Jews?
Ruth is incorrect.
Nailed it, come on down.
All right, here's our sword drill.
John chapter 1 verse 12.
Nailed it, good job, come on down.
All right, here's our next one.
Acts 16 verse 31.
Nailed it, good job, come on down.
All right, here's the last one for the 13 and under.
First Thessalonians chapter 5 verse 22.
Ms. Lauren.
Abstain from all parents, nailed it, come on down.
Now we're going to just eight and under, okay.
Eight and under.
My first question, who tempted Eve in the Garden of Eden?
Who?
Satan, come on down.
Great question.
How many of each animal did Noah take on the ark?
Elizabeth.
Sorry.
Two, nailed it, all right, come on down.
All right, here's, we got three Bible verses, okay.
You little guys, you got it.
I believe in you, all right.
Romans 10 verse 13.
All right, Ms. Morgan.
Nailed it, come on down.
All right, I got two more.
Proverbs 1 verse 1.
It's open for the taking.
Proverbs 1 verse 1.
John wants to enter the competition.
It's not, all right Kent, we got it.
Good job, come on down.
We got one more, all right.
So all you kiddos, you got plenty of time.
You got this.
1 John 5 verse 7.
John's already got it, so.
1 John 5 verse 7.
All right, I'll give you a few more seconds, otherwise all the kids get a chance.
All right, I'm going to count to three, and as soon as I get to three, anybody can answer that's a kid.
3, 2, 1.
Everyone, Ethan West.
Nope.
1 John 5, 7.
Right here.
Nailed it, all right, come on down, good job, good job.
Thank you for participating and having some fun with us.
Let's go to another kid's song.
We're going to go to Ho Ho Ho Hosanna, all right.
We're going to have you kids stand up, okay.
Ho Ho Ho Hosanna.
First.
Ho Ho Ho Hosanna, hallelujah.
He saved me and I've got the joy of the Lord.
Good job.
All right, let's do one more.
I'm in the Lord's army, all right.
This one we've got some good motion going, all right.
Here we go on the first.
I may never march in the infantry, ride in the cavalry,
shoot the artillery.
I may never zoom or the enemy, but I'm in the Lord's army.
Yes, sir.
I'm in the Lord's army.
Yes, sir.
I'm in the Lord's army.
Yes, sir.
I may never march in the infantry, ride in the cavalry,
shoot the artillery.
I may never zoom or the enemy, but I'm in the Lord's army.
Yes, sir.
All right.
Good job, kiddos.
Let's go to 1 Kings, chapter number 3.
We're going to read the entire chapter, as we always do.
1 Kings, chapter number 3.
Follow along.
Let's go to 1 Kings, chapter number 3.
We're going to read the entire chapter, as we always do.
1 Kings, chapter number 3.
Follow along in your Bibles, and we'll pass the offering plate.
1 Kings, chapter 3.
The Bible reads,
And Solomon made affinity with Pharaoh king of Egypt,
and took Pharaoh's daughter, and brought her into the city of David,
until he had made an end of building his own house,
and the house of the Lord, and the wall of Jerusalem round about.
Only the people sacrificed in high places,
because there was no house built under the name of the Lord until those days.
And Solomon loved the Lord,
walking in the statues of David his father,
only he sacrificed and burned incense in high places.
And the king went to Gibeon to sacrifice there,
for that was the great high place.
A thousand burnt offerings did Solomon offer upon that altar.
And Gibeon the Lord appeared to Solomon in a dream by night,
and God said,
Ask what I shall give thee.
And Solomon said,
Thou wast shewed thy servant David my father great mercy,
according as he walked before thee in truth,
and in righteousness,
and in uprightness of heart with thee.
And thou hast kept for him this great kindness,
that thou hast given him a son to sit on his throne,
as it is this day.
And now, O Lord my God,
thou hast made thy servant king instead of David my father,
and I am but a little child,
and know not how to go out or come in.
And thy servant is in the midst of thy people,
which thou hast chosen,
a great people that cannot be numbered nor counted for multitude.
Give therefore thy servant an understanding heart to judge thy people,
that I may discern between good and bad,
for who is able to judge this I so great a people?
And the speech pleased the Lord that Solomon asked this thing.
And God said unto him,
Because thou hast asked this thing,
and hast not asked for thyself long life,
neither hast asked riches for thyself,
nor hast asked the life of thy enemies,
but hast asked for thyself understanding to discern judgment,
behold, I have done according to thy words,
lo, I have given thee a wise and understanding heart,
so that there was none like thee before thee,
neither after thee shall any arise like unto thee,
and I have also given thee that which thou hast not asked,
both riches and honor,
so that there shall not be any among the kings like unto thee all thy days.
And if thou wilt walk in my ways,
to keep my statues and my commandments,
as thy father David did walk,
then I will lengthen thy days.
And Solomon awoke, and behold it was a dream,
and he came to Jerusalem,
and stood before the ark of the covenant of the Lord,
and offered up burnt offerings,
and offered peace offerings,
and made a feast to all his servants.
Then came there two women that were harlots unto the king,
and stood before him.
The one woman said,
O my Lord, I and this woman dwell in one house,
and I was delivered of a child with her in the house.
And it came to pass the third day after that I was delivered,
that this woman was delivered also,
and we were together.
There was no stranger with us in the house,
save we too in the house.
And this woman's child died in the night,
because she overlaid it.
And she arose at midnight,
and took my son from beside me,
while thy handmaid slept,
and laid it in her bosom,
and laid her dead child in my bosom.
And when I rose in the morning to give my child suck,
behold it was dead.
But when I had considered it in the morning,
behold it was not my son which I did bear.
And the other woman said,
Nay, but the living is my son,
and the dead is thy son.
And this said, No,
but the dead is thy son,
and the living is my son.
Thus they spake before the king.
Then said the king,
The one sayeth,
This is my son that liveth,
and thy son is the dead.
And the other sayeth,
Nay, but thy son is the dead,
and my son is the living.
And the king said,
Bring me a sword,
and they brought a sword before the king.
And the king said,
Divide the living child in two,
and give half to the one,
and half to the other.
Then spake the woman,
whose the living child was unto the king,
for her bowels yearned upon her son,
and she said,
O my lord,
give her the living child,
and in no wise slay it.
But the other said,
Let it be neither mine nor thine,
but divide it.
Then the king answered and said,
Give her the living child,
and in no wise slay it.
She is the mother thereof.
And all Israel heard of the judgment
which the king had judged,
and they feared the king,
for they saw that the wisdom of God
was in him to do judgment.
Let us bow our heads for prayer.
Father, we thank you for this great church.
We thank you for our pastor and his family.
I pray that you'll fill in with your Holy Spirit,
and I pray that the children will take heed
to all the great preaching,
and realize the pitfalls of life and the devil,
and take heed to your word, Lord,
and have understanding through the sermon tonight,
and we pray these things in Jesus' name. Amen.
Amen.
So we're here in 1 Kings chapter number 3,
and I want to look at one verse
and then kind of explain a little bit about this chapter,
but it says in verse 7,
And now, O Lord my God, thou hast made thy servant king,
instead of David my father,
and I am but a little child.
I know not how to go out or come in.
And Solomon in the Bible is describing himself
as being a little child.
Now, I do believe this is to some level hyperbole
in the sense that
Solomon's not like a 5 or a 6 or a 7 year old
in this portion of scripture.
His exact age, I don't know that I can point to
exactly how old Solomon is.
A lot of people have hypothesized various ages.
I've kind of always thought he was about 18 years old,
but he could be 20,
he could be maybe even a little bit older than 20.
A lot of people kind of assume he's around the 20s mark,
but at least in perspective of everyone else,
he feels like he's just a little child.
He's so young and he's so inexperienced,
yet he is already appointed king, and not just king,
king of the most powerful nation on the earth
at this point in time.
David has conquered virtually all of the other areas,
laid up enormous amounts of wealth and money and riches,
and we have to realize is that Solomon,
starting here at 18,
he's not just starting from scratch as a Christian,
he's grown up to be this important figure in his life
and at this point in his life,
he's already a very godly person.
And the Bible describes him as someone who,
look at verse 3,
And Solomon loved the Lord,
walking in the statutes of David his father.
So notice, it's not like Solomon
just started trying to be godly when he became king.
He has a pattern of having been godly his whole life,
and really, you can be a Christian at a very young age.
Not only can you be a Christian,
not only can you be a Christian,
you can be one who walks in his statutes,
and you can become a very godly person.
And what's very interesting is Solomon
becomes one of the wisest people on the planet
as a very young adult,
meaning someone who is very young
can already be wiser and more intelligent
than most, if not all, adults.
And you say, that's kind of incredible when you think about it.
Now, you know, in this conference,
we've done a lot of fun things.
We've thrown some candy.
You know, we've hit people with candy.
We had prizes, jokes, all of that fun stuff, okay?
And we've sung a lot of silly songs.
And to kids, toys are like the coolest things ever.
I mean, they'll captivate all of your attention.
I mean, kids up here were going through
all kinds of strenuous activities
just for a few bites of candy.
And to them, these little nuggets and stuff
are kind of a treasure to them.
And what is treasure?
Treasure in the dictionary is something of great value
or worth, a precious thing, rare or wealth.
And what's funny is that to a child,
if you offered them a cheap little toy or a $100 bill,
they'd probably pick the cheap little toy
because they don't really understand the value of things.
They don't understand what's truly a treasure
or what truly has value, okay?
My dad would always joke when he was older
because he was the oldest of his siblings and his cousins.
And whenever they would come into town,
you know, back then, money was not what it is today.
The Jews have had their way with it.
But, you know, back then, to give somebody a nickel
or a dime or something was a lot of money.
You could buy, like, hamburgers for, like, five cents, okay?
So it's not like it's nothing, right?
Today, a burger's, what, 10 bucks?
So imagine your uncles or aunts
coming around giving you 10 bucks.
That's pretty nice, right?
But back then, it's like a nickel or a dime or whatever.
My dad would always joke
that he would always get the dimes over the nickels
because the nickel's bigger than the dime.
So did the little kids.
They would want the bigger coin
even though the dime was technically worth more.
And so they got the first pick, and he's like,
oh, you want that big one.
You want that big nickel, right, you know,
or the big penny or something.
And he's like, I'll take the measly old dime here.
And he's kind of tricking them
into realizing what the value is.
Well, the same is with the devil
in the sense that the devil wants to trick you,
little children, into what's actually important in life.
And what's not important in life is toys and candy.
You know, the real treasure in this world
is the Bible, is the Word of God.
And, you know, we come to church,
and we try to have fun.
And I hope that you like church.
I hope that you enjoy church.
I hope that you were excited to sing certain songs
and you were excited to get candy
and you were excited for the donuts
and everything like that.
But children, you have to realize
that the real treasure here is the Bible,
is the Word of God.
And this is the true treasure of life
to the point where when you become a young adult,
18, 19, and 20,
you can be one of the smartest people in this world
even at 18, 19, and 20.
And I fully believe that.
I fully believe that the children in this room
could be potentially smarter than virtually 99%
of all people in this world at 18, 19, and 20
if they will understand what Solomon understood
and they're gonna understand the point of the sermon.
So the title of my sermon this evening
is just Hidden Treasures.
Hidden Treasures.
And I want you kids to try and pay attention
to the stories and pay attention
to the Bible verses here
because, you know, that's really
the most important thing that you get
is that you learn that the Bible
is the most important value.
I like taking on the sword,
but the sword of the Spirit is better.
I like the battle axe,
but, you know, the battle axe of God's Word
is more beneficial.
And it's fun to have some candy and stuff,
but it's better to be smart
and you can buy all the candy you want
when you're an adult.
Okay?
That's what I get to do now.
So I get as much candy as I want.
But why?
Because I actually paid attention in school,
I paid attention in church,
and I have the ability to go out
and make money and provide for myself.
And these are important skills
that you have to learn,
every single one of you.
Now, in 1 Kings chapter number 3,
Solomon's taking over,
and he loves the Lord,
and he's trying to walk in his ways.
He offers all these sacrifices.
And look at verse 5 again.
The Bible says,
And Gibeon the Lord appeared to Solomon
in a dream by night,
and God said,
Ask what I shall give thee.
And Solomon said,
I want a bunch of ninja swords.
And Solomon said,
I want that fidget spinner.
No, Solomon is given a carte blanche.
I mean, he's given a blank check by God
at a very, very young age,
and the response that he gives
is the most mature response
that you could ever have,
and it's not coming from a vacuum.
It's because he already understood
what's really important.
And what did he understand was already important?
Understanding itself.
Look at how he responds.
Verse 7,
And now, O Lord, my God,
I will read verse 6 to you,
just to have it.
And Solomon said,
Thou hast showed unto thy servant David
my Father great mercy,
according as he walked before thee in truth,
and in righteousness,
and in uprightness of heart with thee.
And thou hast kept for him this great kindness,
that thou hast given him a son
to sit on his throne,
as it is this day.
And now, O Lord, my God,
thou hast made thy servant king
instead of David my Father.
And I am but a little child,
I know not how to go out or to come in.
And thy servant is in the midst of thy people,
which thou hast chosen a great people,
that thou cannot be numbered
nor counted for multitude.
Give, therefore, thy servant
an understanding heart
to judge thy people,
that I may discern between good and bad,
for who is able to judge this
by so great a people?
And the speech pleased the Lord
that Solomon is a great servant,
the Lord that Solomon had asked this thing.
So, according to the Bible,
Solomon is given by God in a dream
an opportunity to ask for anything
that he could possibly want.
And what is the one thing that Solomon asks for?
He asks for an understanding heart.
He wants to understand what is right.
He wants to understand what is wrong.
He wants to understand the right decisions
to make in life
and the wrong decisions in life
and to be a good leader
for the children of Israel.
You know, every single child in this room,
and adult, but specifically we're talking about the children,
should desire to have an understanding heart.
We should all pray for this.
And, you know, I heard this story
so much growing up.
You know, I went to not a very good church,
but they still taught a lot of Bible verses,
and this is a story that actually was brought up
often in my church.
And, you know, they would summarize it
and Solomon asked for wisdom,
which is similar to what is worded here,
this understanding.
But I remember, you know, as a child growing up,
that was a constant prayer that I had
because I felt like that's what the Bible teaches
and it's not just that Solomon is giving this carte blanche
because here's the reality.
God will give you whatever you want
if you pursue his statutes and his judgments.
You know, it's not that Solomon's the only one
that can have a really understanding heart.
It is there on the table for anyone that will ask.
I believe that every child in this room,
if they ask God and they get on their knees
and they pray at night for God to give them wisdom
and they search the Scriptures,
they can have an understanding heart
and not just a normal one beyond measure,
one that most, every normal person
would have an awe for,
even when they're still a little child.
You know, it's funny to me
how many adults I run into
and I'll ask them what Bible they use
and they'll bring up the NIV or something or the ESV
and I ask them why or I said they were King James only.
They say, oh, that's too hard to understand.
Yet it's funny to me that the children in this room
can already understand it,
let alone when they become 18, 19, 20,
you'll already understand the most difficult book
to ever be understood.
You know, and it's silly because,
honestly, the King James Bible,
while it is a, you know, it's a higher level
in the sense that it has some difficult words in there.
I mean, there were some kids in our spelling bee yesterday
that got all the words on the list.
Right.
You know, and it is funny to me
because think about all the adults out here.
If we just grabbed some adults off the street,
if we just went to the burger joint,
if we just went down the street and we said,
hey, can you spell prognosticators?
Can you spell concupiscence?
They wouldn't even know a word I said.
They probably wouldn't even be able to pronounce it.
Yet we have kids in this room spelling those words
because the cap should not be the public fool system.
The cap shouldn't be the SAT scores.
You know what, the cap is the wisdom of God.
And, you know, we should strive to teach our children
how to have understanding hearts
and how to know the Bible and understand the Bible.
And, you know, it's funny to me
because I've even looked up some of the high level,
you know, spelling bee competition stuff,
and most of the time they're using King James Bible words.
Because they're some of the best words to use
and they're really difficult,
yet they're still very familiar.
You can find them in a modern dictionary today.
And so it's funny to me
that when they want to have a competition on wisdom,
they go to the King James Bible.
You know what they're not using
is the weird words found in the NIV.
You know, satis traps or whatever,
or surdis traps or, you know, surdisands
or satraps or these other kind of weird words
that, you know, you don't find in the King James Bible.
So point number one of the hidden treasure
is the number one hidden treasure
in the world is understanding.
Understanding is a hidden treasure
that most people are not after.
They simply don't care.
Most people don't care to understand things in the Bible.
You know, you'll bring up things in the Bible
and they'll say, I don't understand it, I can't read it.
You know, the Bible warns about a people
and I think it's Isaiah, but there's a people
that they're basically asking about the Bible
or Jeremiah, I can't remember.
They're like, I can't understand it.
You know, I can't read it.
And that's what it feels like our culture today.
You know, you hand them the Bible
and they can't understand it.
They can't even read it.
And then they try to make fun of it
due to their own insecurity.
You know, the King James Bible
is not something to be scoffed at.
You know, they'll be like,
well, I don't just speaketh that awayeth.
And it's like, neither does the King James Bible.
You weirdo.
There was a man sent from God, his name was John.
Was that really, I mean, is it,
it wasn't like there was a manetha
that was sentetha from a godetha,
you know, his name was Johnetha.
It's not like that, okay?
That's just silly.
And why do they make fun of it?
It's because they are actually foolish.
They're actually, they're actually
a stupid person themselves.
And so instead of actually getting some smarts
or getting some understanding,
they make fun of things that they don't understand.
They make fun of the things
that they don't know anything about.
But the children in this room,
if you study the Bible and you study the word of God
and you, you know, apply yourself
to the wisdom that God has for you,
you can and will be smarter
than all of the adults virtually in this entire area.
Even at the age of 18.
You know, the kids at 18
that are not having the wisdom of God,
they're typically going and getting debt,
going to the public, you know, college.
And there, they're getting STDs.
They're not even getting a real education.
They're not even setting themselves up for the future.
They're not gonna find a young woman
that they wanna marry.
They'll have bastard children.
They're gonna make all kinds of really bad decisions.
And you know why most of them are making those decisions?
Is because they just don't understand.
It's not that if you sat them down
and explained the consequence of their actions,
that they would probably make those decisions.
It's the fact that they just don't understand.
They don't know any better.
And so they end up making a lot of bad decisions
because they have no understanding.
They drink alcohol because they don't understand.
They commit fornication because they don't understand.
They steal and they lie and they cheat
and they don't study and they play video games
and they just absorb their life on TikTok
and all this other nonsense.
Why?
Because they have no understanding.
You know, they don't wanna play a game
that actually requires skill or intellect.
You know, something that actually has a little bit of a value.
They just wanna play some kind of a game
where they just smash the button.
You know, smash the button or whatever.
Not really any cognitive thinking.
Not any creativity.
You know, they don't like reading because it takes time.
Because they don't understand the words.
Because it's not as engaging to them.
But you know, readers are leaders.
You know, there's a reason why
the spelling bee is typically dominated by girls.
And it was even yesterday.
It's always dominated.
I mean, there's very few guys that want to
enter in the spelling bee or do as well.
And it's because girls typically read more than boys.
And because of them seeing those words so often
and reading them so often,
that's how you end up becoming a good speller.
You know, being a good speller, there's not a secret to it.
It's just that person reads a lot.
Because when you see a word often enough,
you end up getting it inside.
Whereas, if you've never seen the word,
it's very difficult to spell it correctly.
You know, there are certain rules
and there are certain things that you can kind of learn
on how to start spelling words based on the phonetics of it.
But generally speaking, people that are good spellers,
it's because they read a lot.
And because they are constantly exercising their brain.
And so if you children want understanding,
you need to be begging and praying to God
and you need to be reading all the time.
It says in verse number 10, let's keep reading here.
It says, In the speech pleased the Lord
that Solomon had asked this thing,
God said to them, because thou has asked this thing,
and it's not asked for thyself, long life,
neither has asked riches for thyself,
nor has asked the life of thine enemies,
but has asked for thyself understanding
to discern judgment.
Behold, I have done according to thy words, lo,
I have given thee a wise and an understanding heart
so that there was none like thee before thee.
Neither after thee shall any arise like unto thee.
And I have also given thee that which thou has not asked,
both riches and honor,
so that there shall not be any among the kings
like unto thee all thy days.
And if thou wilt walk in my ways
to keep my statutes and my commandments
as thy father David did walk,
then I will lengthen thy days.
So God says, I like what you asked for so much
that not only am I gonna give you that wisdom
and understanding heart,
but I'm gonna give you everything you didn't even ask for.
I'm gonna give you money, wealth, fame, women.
He's supposed to get one, okay, folks.
But he got it all.
I mean, he got everything.
Solomon got everything you could ever want for
by simply asking for understanding.
And I believe what God's trying to communicate to you is this.
When you get the understanding,
all the other stuff comes with it.
You know, the people that are truly smart
and truly have wisdom
and truly have understanding in this world
are going to be the ones
who also just happen to have really good jobs
and just happen to make really good decisions
and just happen to have all the things that come with life
because really the most important thing
is having the understanding.
You know, there's the old adage of teach a man,
or I'm sorry, give a man a fish and he'll eat for a day.
Teach a man how to fish and he'll eat for a lifetime.
And what's the philosophy?
That it's better to have knowledge and understanding
than to have handouts.
When has the handouts ever worked for any society?
It only works for a tyrant ruling class.
But if you actually love somebody,
you wouldn't have to give them a handout.
You'll give them knowledge.
You'll give them wisdom.
You'll give them understanding.
And here's the thing.
If we love our children,
we won't have kid conferences where we just hand them a sword
or we just hand them candy.
No, we'll hand them the hidden treasures of God,
the understanding of God's Word.
That is the real treasure that they need to have
and to walk away with.
Now let's read this parable a little bit.
It's not a parable, but it's kind of an example,
a story that did happen.
It says in verse 16,
Then came there two women that were harlots,
unto the king that stood before them.
And the one woman said,
O my Lord, I and this woman dwell in one house,
and I was delivered of a child with her in the house,
and came to pass the third day.
After that I was delivered,
that this woman was delivered also.
And we were together,
there was no stranger with us in the house,
save we two in the house.
And this woman's child died in the night,
because she overlaid it.
And she arose at midnight,
and took my son from beside me,
while thine handmaid slept,
and laid it in her bosom,
and laid her dead child in my bosom.
And when I arose in the morning to give my child suck,
behold, it was dead.
But when I had considered it in the morning,
behold, it was not my son which I did bear.
And the other woman said,
Nay, but the living is my son,
and the dead is thy son.
And this said, No,
but the dead is thy son,
and the living is my son.
Thus they spake before the king.
So we have two women,
both claiming a child.
Now, obviously in the story,
there's not an opportunity to do a DNA test.
You know, they don't have that type of technology.
There's also apparently not a physical indication,
both of these women probably look pretty similar.
And their children, you know,
are relatively similar looking,
so there's not an obvious mother necessarily.
And it's really kind of a perplexing situation,
because how can you know who's telling the truth?
They're unable to decide this.
It says in verse number 23,
Then said the king,
The one saith, This is my son that liveth,
and thy son is the dead.
And the other saith, Nay,
but thy son is the dead,
and my son is the living.
And the king said, Bring me a sword,
and they brought a sword before the king.
And the king said, Divide the living child in two,
and give half to the one, and half to the other.
Then spake the woman whose the living child was,
unto the king, for her bowels yearned upon her son,
and she said, O my lord, give her the living child,
and in no wise slay it.
But the other said, Let it be neither mine nor thine,
but divide it.
And the king answered and said, Give her the living child,
and in no wise slay it, she is the mother thereof.
All Israel heard of the judgment
which the king had judged, and they feared the king,
for they saw that the wisdom of God was in him to judgment.
So according to the Bible,
even at whatever young age you want to assign Solomon,
let's say 18, 19, 20, even maybe 25,
according to the Bible, they're astonished,
or they're amazed at how this young man
knew more than every other person.
I mean, and I'll be honest,
if there was a problem for our church,
and there was an 18-year-old
that was able to come up with an answer
that was better than any of the other men in this room,
that would be impressive, wouldn't it?
That would be quite amazing.
And I believe that it can happen
when a child gives himself unto the Bible
and asks for the wisdom and the understanding
that comes from God, because it's not about an age.
You know, God wants to give his wisdom
to any vessel that's willing.
Now, of course, generally speaking,
wisdom comes with age, experience.
The more that you study, the more you learn the Bible,
the more opportunity you have to grow
and to gain this wisdom and knowledge.
But according to the Scripture,
God's willing to impart this, you know,
incredible wisdom and understanding
unto a very young man.
Now, I have other places in the Bible I want to turn here.
Go to Psalms 119.
Why did Solomon make this decision?
Well, of course, the woman who's so lazy
and so carefree with her child
to lay on it and kill it in the night
is also the same that doesn't really care if it dies.
You know, some people have taken this story
to get really nervous.
You're not, if you love your child,
you're not just going to accidentally kill it in the night.
Okay?
Now, I'm not saying that there couldn't be an accident.
We could all make a mistake.
But I'm saying that you're not going to just
lay on your child, just forget
that it's there or something like that.
Really, you know, most likely
she was probably just drunk.
You know, she was probably just drunk
and then just overlaid her child, you know,
because in order to, you know,
when I'm in the bed and, you know,
my daughter will just kick or punch me,
I wake up, like, I've never, you know,
it's very obvious, okay?
And, of course, mothers are ten times more sensitive
than husbands.
I mean, I wouldn't even be able to
compare myself to her.
She can, like, tell the difference in their breathing.
You know, it's like, what in the world?
It's like, it's alive, you know, okay?
It's just like, you know,
I'm worried about this breath.
It's been like, you know, 0.578 seconds
between breaths or whatever.
It's just like, breathing, you know, whatever, you know?
Just don't shake it too hard or something, right?
But, of course, you know,
a mother that cares about her child,
she's not going to hurt it.
She's not going to want to harm it.
She's going to want to do good unto it.
And mistakes happen.
But this story is not a mistake.
This woman didn't, her child didn't die
because of just a pure accident
or God decided to do this.
This was a woman who, you know,
basically doesn't even care about children.
Because, as evidenced by the king saying,
let's literally kill this child
and she's fine with it.
I mean, that's not a mother.
That's not a woman that actually cares about children whatsoever.
And so it became very evident
to the king and to everyone else
after having gone through this exercise,
this is the clear mother
because a mother would never agree
to her child being killed.
You know, and of course, if you lose a child,
it's a horrible tragedy.
It would be very, a grief to a mother.
But for some reason, this woman is fine
with killing a child.
That's bizarre.
That goes to show this woman's probably a reprobate.
I mean, think about it.
Women that are fine with their children dying,
you know, if your child died and you weren't sad
or didn't weep for a really long time
you probably are just a wicked person.
I mean, I don't think that that's possible, okay?
Just like, you know, all these parents
from Sandy Hook
all their little five-year-olds got killed
and not a single one of them
cried a single time.
Now that's my opinion
because I don't want to get sued or whatever, but
I'm just saying it's my opinion
that I'm skeptical of a parent
that can't even cry.
There's no tears.
When their little, precious five-year-old
I mean, was murdered
in a senseless act
I mean, it's just like, come on, folks.
That's not possible, okay?
I would cry for sure.
I mean, it's not even a question.
Psalm 119, look at verse number 99.
I have more understanding
than all
my teachers
for thy testimonies of meditation.
Let me tell you something, children.
You can
be smarter
than your brother.
You can be smarter than your sister.
Some of you already are.
You can be smarter than Mom and Dad.
You can be smarter than Pastor Shelley.
You can be smarter than every person on this planet.
No one is holding you back
except for you.
Because God wants to give it to you.
But you know what?
If you want to be wise
notice what you have to do.
You can be the smartest person.
And look,
some of us are past that.
We didn't do this as a child.
No one is holding you back now either.
You can become one of the smartest people
on the planet
and it's directly related
to you studying the Bible
and meditating
on the Word of God.
That will give you true wisdom and understanding.
Go to 2 Timothy 3.
And so really
what I want you kids to do
is to start young.
Start getting understanding now.
Start realizing what the Bible says now.
And you know, it's not like
oh, only the men need to do the Bible.
No, no, no. The women need to do the Bible.
Just as much.
You need to know who to marry.
You need to know how to raise children.
You need to know what to teach your children.
You're going to raise the next generation.
And if we forsake our women
we will also end up forsaking our men
because our women
are going to give birth to our men
and our women are going to raise our men.
And I've noticed
this phenomenon that women
often are almost
a direct reflection of their husband.
Just like the moon's brightness
is dependent upon the sun
often a woman's brightness is dependent
upon her husband.
And when they marry a man that's unwilling
to lead
and to serve God and to be faithful
often times it'll drag
women down.
Now, I'm not saying that you
have to be limited. If your husband
doesn't want to serve God, you serve God.
Okay? And I praise
the fact that there are women like that.
There's men like that. There's men whose wives don't want to
serve God and they serve God. There's women whose husband
doesn't want to serve God and they serve God.
And you know what? Praise the Lord for them.
But
let's just be real.
Most women
do not serve God without their husband.
Most women are drug down
by their husband in a reflection of
their husband. And so
if you want your daughters
to serve God, you need
to make sure that they want
to marry a godly man. That they want
to marry someone that's going to challenge them
that's going to lead them
and not hold them back
not drag them
out of church, not
basically enable them to
serve God to the fullest of their
capability. You know what I would want
my sons-in-law is for my sons-in-law
to go
with their wives is to
help them to be the most godly person
they could possibly be. You know?
And for their husbands to
love God more than their wife.
That would be
the most important thing.
You say, oh, but he really
loves her. Yeah, but does he love the
Lord?
Because you know how you show love to a person
by loving God? Because doesn't 1 John
tell us that if a man say you love
his brother and love not God, he's a liar?
So if you think
that there is someone out there that loves your child
but doesn't love God, you're
deceived because that person's a liar.
The person that will actually
love your spouse the
most is the one who loves
God the most. Those who
love the Lord and care about the Lord are
going to be the ones who love and care about their
spouse the most. There's a direct
connection and relationship
there.
So kids, I want you to have
understanding and look at 2 Timothy
3 verse 15
and that from a child thus known
the Holy Scriptures which are
able to make thee wise
unto salvation through faith which is
in Christ Jesus. Notice what the Bible's saying.
Hey kids, you can become wise
and you know who's able to do that for
you? It doesn't say mom and dad.
It doesn't say pastor Shelley. It says
the Bible. It says the Bible
the Scriptures are able to
make thee wise.
What gives you wisdom is
the Bible. Not just
preaching. Not just
showing up and singing some songs. No, you
as a child need to read the Bible.
You need to read Genesis and Exodus
and Leviticus and Numbers and Deuteronomy.
You need to read the Minor Prophets.
You need to read the New Testament. You
need to have a personal Bible reading time
where you sit down and you read the Bible.
That is the only way you will
become wise. There's a lot of
independent fundamental Baptist churches that raise
kids their whole life
but the kid didn't read the Bible
and then when they become adult they're not wise.
Sometimes they're not even
saved. Of course we want our kids
to get saved and we assist them in that
but beyond that you need to
just make sure your kids are reading the Bible.
You kids, no one can force
you to look at the words and pay
attention and to
understand it and to care. You
have to decide that for yourself.
But I'm telling you, you want to because it's the
true riches of this world
and when you have understanding
you can have everything else.
When you don't have understanding, everything
you want will be taken from you.
Just like we talked about this morning.
Do you want that candy to be
taken from you?
Now, when God takes all your candy away
He doesn't reward you with a prize
afterwards. You just lose it all.
And one of those prizes is
long life. Instead of trying
to get long life, you try to get understanding
and you know what comes with understanding? Long life.
Instead of trying to get money
you try to get understanding and you know what comes with understanding?
Money.
You know, having fame
or having success or having good relationships
it comes with understanding
not with seeking those
items.
Go to Proverbs chapter number
4, go to Proverbs chapter number 4
what is the hidden treasure
of this world is understanding?
And I want you kids to realize
the greatest treasure in this world is the
King James Bible.
This is the real treasure.
And you know
us as adults, a lot of us learned that lesson
the hard way. Or we had to
learn it later in life.
But man, you read the Bible
and you're just like, that's just so true.
And as a child
you do not have to make
every bad mistake. Let me give you
a secret to life, kids. You can learn one of two
ways. You can make the mistake
and realize the Bible is right
or you can read the proverb
and never have to do it.
You know, there's people
like Pastor Anderson, who is my sending pastor
you know, he's never
drank alcohol.
But I'll tell you, when he
preaches against alcohol, it sounds
like he was a drunkard for 30 years and knows everything
about it.
And it always amazes me. I remember
talking about it, I said, how do you understand
so much about alcohol?
Well, I've read the Bible a lot.
And when he articulates how it is,
you would think that he knows from experience.
You would think he went through a college
bender. You would think he's been to every
party and every event because he knows exactly what
it's like. He knows what people say and he knows
how people behave. And it's like, how do you know
this? Because I've read about it.
You don't have to
experience it to know it. You know, one of
the dumbest things is when people say
that experience is the best teacher.
Let me tell you something. Proverbs
is the best teacher.
The Bible is the best teacher.
Sometimes it's better to learn from
other people's experience.
Not your own. And you know what?
Most of us adults, especially when
Pastor Jimenez said, who
in here is a first generation Christian?
You guys
don't want your kids to be like you.
You want them to be a second generation Christian,
not a first generation Christian.
And not have to make all the same mistakes.
You know, I'll be honest. I'm a pastor today
mostly because
I did not want my children
to make my mistakes of my past.
Because
I just genuinely thought, you know, I thought about it
and I said, you know what? I was not a very good person
in my college years and
a lot of my youth. I made a lot of mistakes
and I'm going to start having kids and I don't
want them to make those mistakes.
And I said, the way I'm living
my life right now, my kids are
going to be just like me.
And they're going to do all the same things that I did.
And because our world is getting worse, it
probably will be worse.
Not because they're worse, but just because the environment
is that much worse. I said, I have
to make a change. I have to seek the Bible.
I have to get an understanding. And it
frustrated me that no one out there
virtually, it seemed like
was really wanting to do the job. It didn't seem like there was anybody
wanting to preach the real
words of God. People were standing on the truth
trying to teach their children and train their children.
You know, and so it's like, that's
what motivated me to even get in there.
But we need to teach our children
that you can get every
piece of information, all the knowledge you could ever want
just from this book. And Proverbs
is one of the greatest places. Proverbs chapter 4, look at verse 1.
Hear, ye children,
the instruction of a father
and attend to no understanding
for I give you good doctrine.
Forsake ye not my law, for I was my
father's son, tender and only
beloved in the sight of my mother.
He taught me also and said unto me,
Let thine heart retain my words, keep my commandments
and live.
Get wisdom.
Get understanding.
Forget it not, neither decline
from the words of my mouth.
Forsake her not, and she shall preserve thee.
Love her, and she shall
keep thee. Wisdom
is the principal thing. Therefore
get wisdom, and with
all thy getting, get
understanding. Exalt
her, and she shall promote
thee. She shall bring thee
to honor when thou dost embrace
her. She shall give thine
head an ornament of grace, a crown of glory
shall she deliver to thee. Here
oh my son,
and receive my sayings,
and the years of thy life
shall be many. I have
taught thee in the way of wisdom, I have led thee in right paths.
When thou goest, thy
steps shall not be straight, and when thou runnest,
thou shalt not stumble.
Take fast hold of
instruction, let her not
go, keep her, for she
is thy life.
Isn't this incredible when you read the Bible and it just hits all the same
points again? Hey, when you get
wisdom, what do you get with it? You get long
life. When you seek wisdom, what do you
get? You get all the riches and the honor
and you get life and you get everything
else that you could possibly want. And you know,
I wonder if Solomon
already had heard these things and already understood
these things before he got to that point
and then God says, hey, what do you want?
I already know what I want because Proverbs 4 told me
I want, I want understanding.
It says, with all thy getting,
get wisdom, get understanding.
I mean, just, wisdom is the
principle thing, meaning the most important
thing. The most important thing you
children can get is knowledge and wisdom
and understanding. You know, people are forsaking
Sunday night church, but let me tell you
something. Who's getting more
understanding? The people not here tonight
or the people here tonight?
I mean, where are you going to go on Sunday
night and get more understanding than church?
Now, if there's a better church,
go for it. Because doesn't it say
with all thy getting, get understanding?
You know, why do some people drive all
the way over here in Watauga?
I think it's because they have
a desire to get understanding and they believe
this is where they're going to get the best
understanding. You know, if you thought
you could get it somewhere else, why wouldn't you go somewhere
else? I would.
And of course, if I could get it from any
other document, I would get that document.
But you know, this is where you get all of it.
You know, we're not here, we're not
just here in some vain
exercise. We're not just doing Sunday
night church just because everybody else did it,
so might as well do it. No, no, no.
Wisdom is the principle thing.
We're here to get more understanding.
We can't get enough of it.
We can't, you know, and we have so many in between
because we're not just a forgetful hearer,
but we're a doer of the work. Why? Because
we don't want to just get that wisdom, we want to retain it.
We want to hang on to it, okay?
But kids, number one hidden
treasure is understanding. Number
two is just right here in this same passage.
Let's keep reading the next verse.
Look what it says in verse 14.
Enter not in the path of the wicked
and go not in the way of evil men.
Avoid it. Pass not
by it. Turn from it and pass away.
So point one of
the hidden treasure of this world
is understanding. Point two
is being undefiled.
A hidden treasure of this world is being
undefiled. Being a virgin
is a hidden treasure.
I'll tell you, the
young single guys in this room that are looking
for a wife, it would be a hidden
treasure if the girl that they're seeking for
was a virgin.
None of them would say here, you know, like,
I want Kamala Harris, you know.
Come on, I want to be the
hundredth guy, you know.
No, no, they want a virgin.
Why? Because it's a treasure.
It's a great value. It's a great
resource. And often
once a man has taken that treasure
from a woman, he ends up
having no need for her. He disposes of her.
Just like we see
in the scripture with Tamar,
Amnon takes the hidden
treasure from her, takes her virginity,
and then as soon as he takes it, he
hates her. And
I'll tell you this, a man
that will take your treasure
before he marries you is not interested in
marriage.
And he doesn't see that real value. You know,
as a young woman, the worst
thing you could do is to give up your treasure
before you get married.
You know, and
any guy that's willing to take it is not
worth marrying. A guy
that's worth marrying is one who would say, I'm not
going to, I'm willing to wait
to have that treasure. I'm
willing to, you
know, allow you to be undefiled.
You know, being undefiled is something
that once you take it out of the box, you can't
put it back in. You know,
once something's dirty, it's
dirty. Once you break the slinky,
it's broken. Okay? There's
no way to put that slinky back together.
That which is crooked cannot be made straight.
And as evidenced by outside,
you know, there's no repair, folks.
Otherwise,
why, you know, it's so funny, all these
churches get mad at us for
not fixing all these crooked,
broken things, but when have they ever done it?
When did the subway
sandwiches, you know, save those people?
They love
to pontificate about how much more
loving they are. Oh, we're so
loving. We give them
sandwiches and take pictures and give them
t-shirts. Okay, well, when did one of them get
saved then? Show me your
convert. Show me how it worked.
You know, just like the people that say they're so
loving by giving money to the homeless people,
but you know what? When you give money
to the one guy in the corner, you know what happens
next week? There's two guys in the corner.
And
then pretty soon, there's five on the corner.
And you know, when you give
sandwiches to the freaks outside,
instead of actually them decreasing, some of
the people in your church end up wandering out and add
to their group.
Okay?
They're not fixing the problem.
They're not really loving. And you know, when it comes to a child,
you know, as a child, if you
want to have a true treasure, it doesn't
come from the sin of this world.
It comes from being undefiled.
That is the real treasure. You know, it's easy
to find a kid that's a sinner.
It's easy to find a rebellious kid.
It's easy today to find a kid filled with
tattoos.
You know what? I'm not mad if you have tattoos.
But let me tell you something. I've always
thought tattoos were stupid, and I never
wanted them, and I'm so
glad I have zero.
You know how many tattoos I have?
Zero. You know how many tattoos I've wanted
in my life? Zero. And when people
would talk to me about tattoos, I would say,
that's dumb every time. I'd say,
that's stupid. I don't want one.
I don't like it. And you say,
why are you so mean about this?
Because I have tons of people in my life that come to me
and say, I wish I'd never got a tattoo.
You know what they needed? They needed me in their life.
They needed someone
to be like, that's stupid. Don't get it.
And you know what? There's
probably half of you in here have a tattoo.
Okay? And I'm not
mad at you. I really
could care less, honestly.
I don't even care if you have one.
I'm just saying, I don't want one.
And I don't want my kids to have one.
And I don't want my kids to look at
your tattoo and think, that's kind of cool.
So I'm going to make fun of them as much as possible, okay?
So, you know, I had someone
at the door one time when I was going
recently, they said, oh,
well, I don't like this one church because they're always
judging me about, you know, things
and my tattoos and stuff. And I said, well, you know
what? I have no problem. You can come in with your tattoos
all day long, as
long as I can preach as much as I want against them.
I
said, if you can come to church
and take the preaching,
I have no problem with you. If you can
take no problem with me for preaching against as
much as possible. Just like we have people that are divorced,
just like we have people that have committed
fornication, just like we have people that have committed
all kinds of horrible sins in their past.
You know what? I'm not going to sit here and pretend
like it didn't happen. I'm
going to preach against it as hard as possible. Why?
Because I want your children
to be undefiled. I don't want
your child to commit fornication.
I don't want your child to get the tattoo.
I don't want your child to get drunk.
I don't want your child to commit divorce.
I don't want your child to get an STD.
I don't want your child to knock up
some stranger or to get knocked up by
some loser.
So you know what? I'm going to scream and I'm going to
yell and I'm going to put all this uncomfortable
pressure on everybody because then
when the kids are out in this world
and they don't have much of a chance
and they're around all these weirdos and freaks
that they're like, you know what? I'm going to
disappoint my parents. I'm going to disappoint
Pastor Shelley. I'm going to disappoint
God. So I'm going to say no.
We already saw how Pastor Shelley
worked. Even in church
I could get them pretty easy. How much
more of the world? How much more of the worldly
friends? You know, that's why it's important to also not let them
hang out with people that are going to defile
them.
And you kiddos,
you shouldn't hang out with kids that are
going to defile you. If a kid's doing
something wrong, you don't
do it with them.
Hey, when a kid's running on stage, you
don't run on stage.
When a kid's in the ice machine, you don't
get in the ice machine. Hey kids,
when you see kids throwing stuff
in this back room, you don't throw stuff in
this back room. When kids are
running outside the building, you don't run outside the building.
When kids are saying mean things
to other kids,
you don't say mean things to other kids.
You be undefiled.
And you say, oh, that doesn't happen here.
It happens every single service.
And I would, you know,
even sometimes my kids are
the culprit, okay? It's not
like my kids are angels and your kids aren't,
but some people's kids are
worse than others. Let's be real.
And, you know what, I don't
want my kid to
go down to the lowest common denominator.
You don't want yours. It's very natural, though.
That's why you have to teach them, hey, when they're
doing wrong, I'm not.
I'm going to be undefiled. You know, Daniel
didn't have to eat the king's meat.
Daniel was different. And what happened?
Daniel became ten times wiser than all the
other magicians and
anthropologists and everyone,
even though he was in not the best
environment, because he was willing to say
no. I remember going
to high school
and I was offered
many times
by the kids in high school to go
and to drink and to go to parties
and to do all kinds of things, and I
always said no.
And I'm glad
that I said no. Now,
unfortunately, because I went to college,
you know, and there was less boundaries,
less restrictions, and peer pressure
works, I didn't always say no.
You know what? I wish that
I had had the same
zeal of my high school
years as I did in my college years.
And let me tell you
something. As a parent,
you don't want to necessarily force your kid
to have to always say no. Sometimes you say no
for them. But we
want to teach our children that there's this hidden
treasure of this world that's being undefiled.
Being someone that says, you know what, I don't
drink, I don't drink, I don't smoke,
I don't chew, and I don't go with
girls that do, all right?
Now, I want to
go to another place, chapter
five, we're just right here, and look
at verse seven.
Hear me now, therefore, you children,
and depart not from the words of my mouth.
Remove thy way far
from her, and come nigh the door
of her house. So there's a woman
out there that you're supposed to
stay away from.
Look at chapter seven and look at
verse 24.
Hearken unto me now, therefore, you children,
and attend to the words of my mouth.
Let not thine heart decline to her
ways. Go not astray in
her paths.
For she hath cast down many wounded, yea,
many strong men have been slain by
her. Her house is the way to hell,
going down to the chambers of
death. The Bible warns there's people out
there that want to trap you, that want to
trick you, that want to what? Defile
you. And as soon as they defile
you, they're done with you.
You know, as soon as they can
get that goody two shoes to take a drink,
they're fine. They don't care to ever
pressure you again, they just got you to do it.
As soon as they can get you that one time,
you know, it's a cool
testimony when a person
can say, I've never drank.
I never smoked.
I was a virgin.
I've never seen that.
I've never been there.
I've never done that.
That is a hidden treasure.
But it, well,
one time, that's way different.
You know, I'm never late to church.
I never miss a service.
Okay, that's a hidden treasure
to a pastor. I don't know if I
can see that person. I'm just gonna...
Go over to Proverbs 25.
Proverbs 25.
You know, the Bible talks about the virtuous
woman who prizes far above
rubies.
What? Hidden treasure.
You know, if you could find,
I mean, if you had a
church, and I said,
hey, I know there's this church.
There's like 25 girls.
They're all between the ages of 18 and 25.
They've never drank. They never smoked.
They're all virgins.
They're really smart.
They can't wait to, like, raise a bunch
of kids and teach them all the Bible.
All of our single guys would be there in a heartbeat.
And they're the most
beautiful women, you know, on the planet.
It's like, we wouldn't have a single guy in church
next service, okay?
They'd be like, what church?
Where do I go?
Now the problem is, if they didn't learn some skills,
they'd come back single, okay?
So they gotta, you know, they gotta improve, all right?
But I'm telling you,
you know, men
that could find a woman like that would go anywhere.
They would hunt for that,
okay?
Because it's more valuable
than all the money out there.
You know, I even bet this,
most of these young student guys, if I said, hey,
you can have her or you can have a billion dollars,
I guarantee most of them
would pick the woman,
if not all of them, especially the spiritual guy.
Because, what are you gonna do with a billion dollars?
Now if you're Mike Murdock,
you know, you would pick a hundred dollars.
Because Mike Murdock, the stupid
TV evangelist false prophet,
he got on television and he said,
I've never seen a woman more attractive
than a hundred dollar bill.
If that's your preacher,
you need to get a new preacher, okay?
He was, he was worshipping money.
He was just like, it was,
it was really gross, okay?
And you should be afraid that he's
not interested in women, you know,
another problem, okay?
Look at verse 25, look at verse 11.
A word fitly spoken
is like apples of gold
and pictures of silver.
Here's my last point, alright kids,
it's gonna be a shorter point.
Number one, you wanna have understanding,
that's a hidden treasure.
Number two, being undefiled is a hidden treasure.
But here's number three, is utterance.
Utterance is a hidden treasure of this world.
Being able to speak something
that people actually wanna hear.
Say something that somebody wants to hear.
Let me tell you something, the best thing
you could ever speak is the gospel of Jesus Christ.
Being a soul winner
is a hidden treasure in this world.
The real hidden treasure is people
that go out and preach the gospel.
And you know the people that do that
have an understanding heart and are usually
trying to live an undefiled life in this world.
I mean, isn't that what pure religion is
anyways, to keep myself undefiled?
Unspotted from the world
as it says in James?
So according to the Bible,
these are the true hidden treasures of the world.
And notice that it says treasure
because it's saying a word fitly spoken
is like apples of gold in pictures of silver.
It's saying when you need
something and you didn't really know what it was
and someone just drops that truth bomb
on you, it's more valuable
than anything else.
Information and knowledge and wisdom
is often always
more highly sought after
than actual money.
People are willing to pay.
There's so many people paying for counselors.
There's so many people paying for psychiatrists.
There's so many people paying
for all this wisdom.
People paying for self-help books.
People paying for education.
You know, it's funny to me, in the software industry
there's a phenomenon where
people will pay 25, 30 thousand dollars
to go to a boot camp just to get a job.
Why?
Because that knowledge and that understanding
is worth so much money.
It has a literal, tangible
dollar amount associated with it.
And yet some people are shelling
out hundreds of thousands of dollars
at the public college
and then they get nothing. They get debt afterwards.
It didn't even help them.
They get all kinds of problems
and consequences.
And yet they still have to shell out even more money
to try and get a real job
or to get anything in this life.
But if you have true wisdom, true knowledge
people want to pay for that.
People are willing to buy that.
All of that from a King James Bible for free.
But once you have it
then you need to deliver that through utterance.
And you know, being able to speak well is a gift.
Some people just can't do it.
You know, I love that
we have a lot of children participate in our spelling bee
and even if they don't win
just participating just helps them
to learn how to communicate, learn how to publicly speak.
Learn all of these skills
because it's a true hidden treasure.
You know, we need more preachers, not less.
And it's a true hidden treasure
when we have them in our midst.
You know, I want the young...
I want to have a generation of preachers
from this group of children.
I don't want to have all these children go to waste
and say, well, none of them can speak well.
No, we need to help them realize that
speaking is a true treasure
that they should work for.
Go to 1 Corinthians, chapter 1.
A lot of times in the Bible
Jeremiah and Moses and other men were afraid to speak.
But you know what?
Someone needs to speak.
Someone needs to say something.
Someone needs to communicate the Word of God.
Faith cometh by hearing
and hearing by the Word of God.
You know how a lot of people get the treasures of this world?
By someone speaking it to them.
And a true hidden treasure of this world is utterance.
And we need to pray for utterance.
You know, the apostle Paul even prayed
or asked others to pray for him
that he'd have utterance.
That he would open his mouth boldly
to the mystery of the gospel.
That he would be able to communicate well
and communicate things effectively.
You know, what we say is important
and it matters.
1 Corinthians, chapter 1, look at verse 4.
I thank my God always under your half
for the grace of God which is given you by Jesus Christ
that in everything
ye are enriched by him.
And what's the first thing?
In all utterance.
And in all knowledge.
You know what the apostle Paul said?
He was pleased that the Lord keeps
granting this prayer request
that you're enriched.
Being enriched is talking about something of value
something of wealth, some kind of a treasure
and what is that treasure?
It's utterance.
This is a real treasure
in the world
is that when you speak
wisdom is pouring out of your mouth.
As opposed to foolishness.
As opposed to the filth of this world.
As opposed to the latest rap song.
As opposed to the scores of the latest
football game, but rather
it's real wisdom, real knowledge
something of great value.
This is a true treasure.
And you know, having a friend that can speak
these things in your life is a true treasure.
You know, the faithful are the wounds of a friend.
But the kisses of an enemy
are deceitful.
You know, you need a friend in your life
that's going to tell you what you need to hear, not what you want to hear.
And it's easier said than done.
You know, oh yeah, I like
I want to hear how to get better.
But let me tell you what
the Proverbs said again.
Faithful are the wounds
of a friend.
Now who in here loves getting wounded?
Any wounds out there you
really embrace?
No one likes a wound.
So let me tell you something.
The true
application of this is not something
you enjoy. It's not really
pleasant in
the moment, okay?
But later it can yield that
fruit, and later you can appreciate it, and later
you can realize it. You know, sometimes
you might come to a church service
and you might not like the sermon in the moment.
And that's okay.
That should be the goal.
In fact, in some cases I think
like, man, that might hurt a couple people.
But, you know
what, I'm trying to
help them in the long run.
You know, even myself
included, when we read the Bible sometimes it hurts.
I mean, I've read the Bible,
and I've read verses, and I was like,
yikes.
I wish I had read that before.
I wish I had understood that better.
That was something that
I needed to hear.
Ephesians chapter 6 verse 18,
the Bible says, Praying always with all prayer and supplication
in the Spirit, and watching thereunto
with all perseverance and supplication for all saints.
And for me,
that utterance
may be given unto me.
You know what, I hope you kids realize that
utterance is a true treasure.
That
being undefiled is a true treasure.
That having understanding is a true treasure.
Because these are the true treasures of life.
And church
is a treasure, children.
Don't just come here
and just not pay attention.
Don't just
show up and not
care.
You know what, and this week we tried to preach
sermons that you maybe can pay attention a little more,
a little bit more geared towards you.
But let me tell you something, every sermon is geared towards you guys.
You guys need to pay attention on Wednesday night,
this Wednesday.
And Sunday morning, next Sunday morning.
And next Sunday night, and the next Wednesday.
And you guys need to read the Bible.
And you guys need to study the scripture for yourself.
Because there is true treasure here.
And God wants to give it to you.
And the only one holding you back
is you.
I can't spoon feed it to you.
Your parents can't give you all the stuff that you need.
You need to do it yourself.
And just like you worked
really hard for some candy today,
and you sang and did all these things,
you need to work just as hard for the Bible.
And for the true wisdom that comes from God.
And if you do,
you will reap so many rewards in your life.
If you work
really hard now, you can enjoy
all the rest of your life.
If you don't work hard now,
you're going to have to work hard later
to even enjoy anything.
You might as well work hard now
and learn the Bible now,
and be godly now,
and it will reward you for the rest of your life.
I even believe
for many of us, you know,
our church is a very young church.
A lot of women in here have young children.
And you're still having children.
And you have a ton of children,
and you're still having children.
But let me tell you something.
When you get done
with all of those children,
when they finally are gone,
you know, it'll probably hurt
because they'll be gone,
your life is going to be so enjoyable.
Like you're going to just basically
get to enjoy for the rest of your life.
Whereas those that decide
not to have kids, or kill their kids,
or do whatever, you know what?
They are not going to have
easy streets, necessarily.
They may not have
15 kids to all take care of them.
And you say,
well, Mike, how are my kids going to take care of me?
Well, did you teach them
a lot of skill and a lot of understanding?
I mean, do they make a lot of money?
And do they love you?
And are they wise?
And are they going to church?
You're like, how am I going to go to church?
Well, if you've got 15 kids going to church,
you've got 15 right options, right?
You've got to realize,
there's pros and cons, right?
Oh, well, it was really hard
when I had all the kids.
Yeah, but you have a lot of strength
and ability now.
Later is when you get to reap what you've sown.
And we want to realize
a hidden treasure for you parents
is your children.
And you are going to reap
your children.
Whatever you do with them,
you will reap it.
Bad or ugly, you know,
it's just going to happen.
And I want you guys
later in life to say,
Pastor Shelley, I'm so glad I have
all these godly children and grandchildren
to look at.
And not look at me and say,
Pastor Shelley, my life's a train wreck.
All my kids don't care about God.
They're on drugs.
They're getting high.
They're committing abortions.
They're killing my grandchildren.
Now, I know people. They're saying,
hey, our kids are getting knocked up
and they're killing their kids through abortion
and they're on drugs.
What do I do?
Well, you can't take them back
in the house and re-raise them.
Sorry.
You know, it's like, well,
you can pray for them. You can keep trying to be godly.
But you know, sometimes the damage is done
because the Bible says, chasing my son while there is
hope.
It didn't, you know, sometimes
it just, it's over.
You say, oh,
dealing with these kids is so hard.
Well, you can get it right now.
And deal with it now.
Well, going to this conference is, you know,
four days. I mean, Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday.
Yeah, but you're going to reap all that
in the future.
And I want you to
reap something of great heritage.
You know, children are a heritage of the Lord.
And they are a reward.
Don't forget that.
Thank you, Heavenly Father, so much for this conference.
Thank you so much for the parents and the children
of this conference. I pray that we would all
realize the importance of following
my commandments, of putting
the Bible at the forefront of our mind.
I pray that whatever memories
have been made these past few days,
the sermons that were preached,
and especially the words of God would sink
deep down into all of our hearts.
That we would have just a true love
and joy for our children.
We would invest so much time and effort
and energy into our children.
That children would love their parents.
That children would see that they have a great value
in serving God.
That they have a great and bright future
if they will put forth
first the kingdom of God
and if they will seek after you.
And I pray that you would just protect our children,
protect our church from the evils and the dangers out there.
And that you would just allow us
to keep serving you. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.
So our last song for the evening
we're going to do,
I've got the joy,
or no, I will enter into his gates, sorry.
I had to remember.
We'll have our kiddos stand up one last time, alright?
I will enter into his gates.
piano plays softly
I will enter
in his gates
with thanksgiving in my heart
I will enter
his courts with praise
I will say this is the day
that the Lord has made
I will rejoice
for he has made me glad
He has made me glad
I will rejoice
for he has made me glad
He has made me glad
I will rejoice
for he has made me glad
God bless you.