Okay, my mic's on now.
Okay, Ecclesiastes chapter 12, and if you can look at verse number one there, it begins
by saying, remember now thy creator in the days of thy youth.
The title for the sermon tonight is the days of thy youth.
I have prepared a sermon primarily for the children, okay, and it is important for the
children to hear sermons that are aimed toward them from time to time, and you know, as far
as I'm concerned, if you're under the age of 20, you're a child, okay, and this is for
you, you know, this is for you, and you need to understand that of course, you know, from
a very young baby toddler till the age of 20, of course, you're going to go through
a lot of changes in life, you know, you're going to have different minds, and of course
a 19-year-old thinks very differently from a 10-year-old, you know, thinks very differently
from a 2-year-old, et cetera, but one thing that you do have at your disposal at this
age is your youth, okay, this is something that you have, and for the rest of us, you
know, as your parents, myself as your pastor, I'm seeing the days tick away, and I'm realizing
I'm no longer young anymore, I can't run like I used to run, when I jump, my legs hurt,
okay, they didn't hurt when they were hurt before, when I eat, I put on the weight versus,
you know, where I could just eat whatever I wanted, it didn't make any difference, and
so, you know, everybody else is realizing they're getting older and older, and you still
are at a very precious age, you're at an age where the Bible's telling us that to remember
your creator, to remember God, not when you're old, that's important, yes, not just when
you're close to death or, you know, when you're 30 or 40 or 50, no, remember now thy creator
in the days of thy youth, okay, God is seeking that you, at this precious age, that you are
seeking the Lord God, now let's read it all, Ecclesiastes 12 one, it says, remember now
thy creator in the days of thy youth, while the evil days come not, nor the years draw
nigh, when thou shall say I have no pleasure in them, and so what the Bible's saying here
is the days of your youth are days where, you know, is a time when evil days have not
yet come, okay, where you can say about certain days that I have no pleasure in them, you
know there is coming a time, children, when you get older, teenagers, as you get older,
and you get into adulthood, and you start having to face the realities of this world,
and young men, you go out there and have to work, you know, and make a living, and you
realise that you're having to deal with an unsaved world, wicked people who do not love
the Lord, when you start to, you know, develop your own families, get married, you know,
and you realise all of a sudden I've got these responsibilities, I have the, you know, I'm
accountable for these people, you know, you won't have the same luxuries, the same freedom
to do whatever it is that you like as a child when you reach those years, and so, you know,
you start to, you know, as children, you know, I love seeing children play, I love seeing
children enjoy themselves, I love that, but there comes a time when you get older, you
say well I don't have pleasure in my days, it's about working, it's about responsibility,
it's about accountability, it's about providing, making sure, you know, you can go from one
day to the next, you know, and those busy days are coming, right now, you might think
ah I'm so busy, you know, the problems you face, they might seem so huge, but they're
so insignificant to the days that are coming, okay, and yes, you should seek God later in
life, but you start now, you start before you get busy, you start before the days become
difficult, you start before, you know, you have all those responsibilities, let's keep
going, verse number two, when are you to remember the creator, it says, while the sun or the
light or the moon or the stars be not darkened, nor the clouds return after the rain, and
so what it means by there being dark, it mentions the clouds there, you know, it's time to seek
God while the sun is out, before the storm clouds come, you know, and life will bring
storm clouds, life will bring difficulties, you will get beat down, okay, there are going to be
days where it's gloomy and dark in your life, hey, but don't let that be the time, that's the only
time I seek God, no, seek God before you get to the cloudy days, before the storms of life hit you,
seek God before then, look at verse number three, in the day when the keepers of the house shall
tremble, and the strong men shall bow themselves, and the grinders cease because they are few,
and those that look out of the windows be darkened, the grinders cease there about your teeth,
you know, as you get older, you're gonna start losing teeth, yeah, you probably lost some baby
teeth growing up, right, and you know how hard it is to eat and how hard it is to speak when you
lose those teeth, but they come back, there's coming a time when those teeth, your new adult
teeth, they'll start to, you start to lose them, they're not, they're gonna start getting old and
you might, you know, the torment getting older, torment getting older, right, look at verse
number four, and the doors shall be shut in the streets when the sound of the grinding is low,
and he shall rise up at the voice of the bird and all the daughters of music shall be brought low,
so what this is speaking about here is, you know, it's time to seek God before that there,
before there are sort of financial or economic difficulties, you know, right now, you probably
don't even think about what it costs to buy a shirt, to eat food, you know, you get food placed
on the table there for you, you know, your mother or whoever, you know, serves you a meal, you
probably don't even think about what's that cost, but there's coming a time when you're gonna be
thinking every dollar, you know, what is everything costs, right, how much is the petrol, how much is
the food, how much is the clothing, how much is the rent, how much is the mortgage, you know,
at some point you're gonna be worried about these things, you know, these things are gonna come to
mind, but we seek God before we have to deal with those financial economic times or those
times later in our lives, look at verse number five, also when they shall be afraid of that
which is high and fears shall be in the way and the almond tree shall flourish and the grasshopper
shall be a burden, so this is the grasshopper or locusts eating up the harvest and desire shall
fail because man goeth to his long home and the mourners go about the streets, so before famines,
before the plagues, before these kinds of difficulties come, you are to seek God, okay,
seek God, you know, we often think I will seek God, yes, when things are hard, God help me,
but if you've not been calling upon God, if you've not been seeking God, if you've not been
remembering God before those hard times, why should he help you now, why should he help you
now, is it, do we only need God when times are hard, no children, right now, your life is easy
and as I said, right now, your struggles, the things you get upset about, they're so small,
they're a drop, you know, it's a drop of water in the ocean, your concerns right now,
things are going to become much more complex for you as the days go on, all right, look at verse
number six, or ever the silver cord be loosed, or the golden bowl be broken, or the pitcher be
broken at the fountain, or the will broken at the system, you know, it's nice having nice things,
things of silver, things of gold, you know, pitchers for the fountain, having wills,
but you know what, when you buy all these things and it's great having it new,
after a while, your parents know this, especially when you have kids, it all starts to break down,
it all breaks, you know, the washing machine will break down, the stove will stop working,
the car will have problems, everything that you possess, you know, it's wonderful to purchase
those things, but it's all going to fade away, it's all going to break down, okay, do we seek
God when things are breaking down? No, we seek God before that, and here's the trick,
children, if you're seeking God, if you're remembering God, if you're loving God before
the hardships come, well when those hardships come, you're going to be better suited to go
through those challenges, you already know the Lord God, you have a hope and a trust in him,
you already have a close walk with him, and so you know when those difficulties come,
whatever difficulties you face in life, that you'll be prepared because you know you have
God at your side, it's not like those difficult times will come and you're wondering,
God are you going to help me, are you going to step in, you won't even have those doubts,
you'll know well God has seen me through the good days, God will also see me through the hard days,
and so young people, use your time right now, yes enjoy life, yes have fun, yes go bowling,
enjoy yourselves, whatever, but don't forget to remember the Lord God, I hope that whatever it
is that you have, whatever it is that you enjoy, enjoy your friends, enjoy the games you play,
I hope whenever you do this, that you turn your minds to God and say, God thank you,
thank you for childhood, thank you for my youth, thank you for giving me things to entertain
myself to have fun in this life, thank you Lord for giving me everything that I have,
start now in the days of your youth, you start now remembering God, you don't wait later,
you don't say this is for adulthood, no this is for your youth, look at verse number seven,
then shall the dust return to the earth as it was, let's speak about our bodies, our death,
okay, and the spirit shall return unto God who gave it, so our spirits will go to our Lord God
when we die, okay, and so what this passage is telling us brethren that there are, or children
I should say, that life can be described in three ways, number one you have your youth, okay,
where you don't have a lot of concerns that you know on your plates and as I said whatever
concerns you have are insignificant, honestly they are, okay, that's one part of life and then there
comes another part of life where it becomes complicated, it becomes overwhelming, it becomes
costly, you know, and it's not always pleasurable, okay, and then that part of your life, that's the
later part of your life, that's your adulthood, and then we have the time in our life when we pass
away, when it's all done, okay, that's basically life, youth, hardships, death, that's life,
honestly, that's it, okay, so it just gets more and more complicated, right, but hopefully you
know you're saved, you're in Christ and you know you ensure that your spirit goes to God the Father
and so what this passage is telling us just you know what it's explaining is you know
when you're close to death that's not the time for you to say well now I'm going to seek God,
that's not the right time, okay, or when you're facing the hardships and the difficulties of life
and the challenges and the responsibilities, well now I'm going to start remembering God,
now I'm going to remember my creator, no that's not the right time,
the right time to remember the Lord God is when? Who's got the answer?
Now in your youth, in your youth, now in your youth is the right time to remember the Lord
God, all right, now if you can please turn to, I'll get you to go to Daniel chapter 6,
go to Daniel chapter 6,
Daniel chapter 6, so what we're learning here children, if you start to remember the Lord God
in your youth, you serve God in your youth, you praise God in your youth, what you start to
develop is a habit, okay, a habit of loving God, a habit of serving God, okay, and so when you go
through those hardships, you're ready for them, you've developed a habit from your youth, the
Bible tells us in Proverbs 22 6, train up a child in the way he should go and when he is old, he
will not depart from it, you know what the Bible is saying, if you make it your habit now in your
youth to serve God, you're not going to depart from that when you get old, what's the Bible
telling us, that if you don't make it a habit to serve God in your youth, you're going to get into
your adulthood, you're going to get later in life and you're going to be out of church, you're
going to be out of serving God, you're not going to be reading your Bible, you're not going to be
praying to God and you say well that can't happen, it happens all the time, go to any church, any
church that has been around for a few generations and you start asking where are the young people,
where's the youth, oh they don't go to church anymore, you know, oh they've sought worldly
pleasures or they've gone to the worst thing, they've gone to the charismatic churches because
that's where the fun and games are, that's bad, okay, we don't want to lose the youth of this
church, you are the future of this church, you are the future of New Life Baptist Church,
okay, you have your youth and the Bible also says before we read that passage, it says in Malachi 2
15, it says and did not he make one, speaking about husbands and wives, that's speaking about
your mum and dad, the Lord God made them one, yet had he the residue of the spirit and wherefore one,
that he might seek a godly seed, children, young people, teenagers, you know what God wants from
you, he wants to see a godly seed, he's seeking in you a godly seed, that's why he gave you mum
and dad, that's why he gave you New Life Baptist Church, that's why he gave you the Bible, okay,
the Lord is expecting that you will serve him with your life, that you represent God on this earth,
even if the adults are not doing it, God is expecting that godly seed to come from that new
generation, okay, God expects great things from you and if God expects great things from you,
he's going to help you accomplish it, but that's as long as you remember the Lord
thy God in thy youth, alright, now you're in Daniel chapter 6 and verse number 6
and so I'm going to give you some advice, children, young people, teenagers,
young adults, I'm going to give you some advice and number one is as I mentioned,
you need to develop a habit remembering the Lord, develop a habit, make it a habit, okay,
look at Daniel 6, 6, then these presidents and princes assembled together to the king and said
thus unto him, King Darius live forever and the presidents of the kingdom, the governors and the
princes, the counsellors and the captains have consulted together to establish a royal statute
and to make a firm decree that whosoever shall ask a petition of any god
or man for 30 days, save of thee, O king, he shall be cast into the den of lions.
Now before we read on, this is the story of Daniel and the den of lions
and so the king was tricked into passing a law that nobody could pray to any god,
even the God of the Bible, even a false god, nobody could ask anything from any god
except from the king himself for 30 days, alright, otherwise they will be punished by death,
by being thrown in the den of lions, that's a horrible way to die, okay, look at verse number
8, now O king establish a decree and sign the writing that it might not be changed according
to the law of the Medes and Persians which altereth not, wherefore King Darius signed
the writing and the decree. So what's Daniel going to do? Is Daniel going to obey this decree?
Well let's read about it, verse number 10, and when Daniel knew that the writing was signed,
he went into his house and his windows being open in his chamber toward Jerusalem,
he kneeled upon his knees three times a day and prayed and gave thanks before his god.
Now let's read the next part, pay attention to the next part, as he did a full time,
what do we learn about Daniel? That he developed a habit to pray to God,
he would open his windows, he would bow his knees, he would, what is it, three times a day,
it was his habit three times a day, morning, afternoon, night, I'm going to pray to the Lord
God, it was his habit, and even if it cost him his life, and it kind of did, they did find him
praying right, they did try to cast him into the den of lions, of course the Lord delivered him
from the lion's mouth, but what we see from Daniel, the reason he was able to be so strong,
okay, the reason he was still able to serve God is because it was his habit to pray, okay,
it was his habit to pray, he did it before, and he's not going to stop,
and children, you need to develop a habit in serving God, okay, you need to develop a habit
of prayer, make prayer something that you're not forced to do by your parents, it's something that
you naturally decide to do every day of your life, hey, be like Daniel, three times a day,
decide I'm going to pray, you know, before you get up, not before you get up, when you get up
in the morning, when you wake up, hey, that's your perfect time to get that first prayer in,
pray to the Lord, thank you Lord for this new day that you've given me,
help me serve you this day, open your Bible, Lord, help me read your word and understand and learn
and grow from your word, okay, pray, what about before your meals, before your breakfast, before
your lunch, before your dinner, Lord, thank you for this great meal that I'm about to partake of,
thank you that it nourishes my body, please bless it to my body, hey, make it a habit,
don't wait for mum and dad to say, hey, did you pray, oh, I forgot, don't, don't be like that,
okay, develop a habit from your youth now, say I'm not going to wait for mum and dad to ask me,
I'm going to go to the Lord in prayer, and of course, before you lay your head to sleep at
night, you know, Lord, thank you for this day that you've given me, give me a great sleep,
give me a great rest, you know, so I can be productive tomorrow, you know, lay your head,
give God thanks for the day that he's given you, make it your habit now in your youth,
don't say, oh, do it when I become an adult, do it now, you start now, like Daniel, hey,
it was his habit, and no matter what difficulties come, you're going to continue praying, you're
going to continue thanking God, you know, every day of your life, what else, so Daniel developed
a habit to pray, you need to develop that habit, please go to the book of Luke now, Luke chapter 2,
Luke chapter 2 and verse 41, Luke chapter 2 verse 41, Luke 2, 41,
speaking about Jesus, it says, now his parents, now that's Mary and Joseph, went to Jerusalem
every year at the feast of the Passover, of course, the feast was something that the Old Testament
Israelites were supposed to keep, alright, there was a one, once a year event where they would
come together, and this was to remember, of course, how they were delivered from the Egyptians,
how the blood of the Lamb was shed and they were saved, which of course pictures the Lamb of God,
the sacrifice of Jesus Christ, okay, so this is something good, this is something godly,
hey, his parents, the parents of Jesus had the habit of going every year to enjoy this feast,
to remember the Passover, look at verse number 42, and when he was 12 years old, that's Jesus,
so he's just a young one, right, they went up to Jerusalem after the custom of the feast,
the next point that I have for you is follow the example your parents set before you, okay,
the godly examples your parents set before you, you know, if your parents come to church every
week, you say, hey, that's a godly example, you know, that's something that I have to do,
even if sometime in the future my parents stop doing this, I know it's important for me to be
in church every week, make that your habit, use the good godly examples that your parents have
have given you and follow after those things, follow after the good examples in their service
to God, you know, do the same things as your parents, what great parents, you know, the Lord
God of course chose great parents for Jesus Christ so that he could of course serve the
Lord even at 12 years old, he was going participating of this feast of the Passover,
and of course, you know, our church, we don't celebrate the Passover, but hey,
something similar, we do have the Lord's supper, you know, when we take, we drink the grape juice
and we break that bread, remembering the body and the blood, the sacrifice of our Lord God,
Jesus Christ, hey, that's something good, that's something we should want to be part of,
you know, even in your youth, you should not say, well, that's just for the adults,
no, if you're saved, it's for you, it's a time for you to remember what Jesus has done for you,
and that's an important time to just remember, Jesus, you died for me, you paid for all of my
sins so I can go to heaven, you know, you must be saved, you must be the one that remembers
Jesus Christ. Go to Luke chapter 4, go to Luke chapter 4, so just two chapters later,
Luke chapter 4 verse 16, we see that the parents of Jesus develop, or they have got a good habit
of every year going to that feast, and then we see Jesus Christ, of course, developing good habits
in his own life as he gets into adulthood. In Luke chapter 4 verse 16, the Bible reads,
and he came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up, and as his custom was,
he went into the synagogue on the Sabbath day and stood up for to read. This is kind of like
church, no, it's not church, okay, the synagogue was a place where they would come together,
read the scriptures, thank God, discuss things, it's kind of like church, okay, and when we see
Jesus in his adulthood, the Bible tells us it was his custom every Sabbath day to go into the
synagogue to learn about God. What's the next thing that you need to make a habit of? Coming
to church, coming to church and hearing the word of God, make this your habit. Now, right now,
I understand, yeah, your parents are dragging you to church, praise God for your parents,
praise God, that's good, you need to be dragged along, okay, but then after a while, you know,
when you become a teenager, when you get older, if you're just being dragged along,
what's going to happen? When you start making your own decisions and your parents start to
give you a little bit of space, you're going to make the decision of saying, well, I don't want
to go to church, church is just a place to get dragged along to, that's my parents like doing
that, it's not for me. And so, as I said, yeah, it's good to see the example your parents have
set, but you have to make a habit for yourself to be in church. Hey, on Sunday mornings, you get up
and say, mom and dad, we got to go to church. Hey, they'll be beautiful words in the ears of
your parents, okay, instead of your parents saying, kids, get up, we got to go to church.
How much better would it be if my kids got up, dad, you got to preach, get up, we got church
going on, we got church, okay, let's go dad. I'd love to hear those words from my kids. I know any
parent here would love to hear those words of their children. You've got to make it your habit,
children, young people, your habit to be in church, okay, otherwise, you will be like all
the other children that go through church, they're going to drop out, go into the world,
and that's a disaster. That would be a serious disaster. Remember,
God is seeking a godly seed in you. He has great expectations from you.
And if you look at verse number 17, not only was Jesus going to church, but he was not satisfied
in just sitting down and just taking up a seat. It says in verse number 17, and there was delivered
unto him the book of the prophet Isaiah, and when he had opened the book, he found the place
where it was written, and then he reads it. And so Jesus wanted to read the Bible, okay. He said,
hey, it's not enough for me to go to church, I want to serve in the church. And yes, when you
get up to read the Bible, whoever it is that gets up to read the Bible, gets up to read the chapter,
you are serving the church, you're serving the body of Christ. Hey, you're following the example
that Jesus himself did, coming to read the scriptures in the synagogue. You know, children,
it's not just coming to church, you need to ask the question, what can I do to serve the church?
Hey, there are hymn books laying around after service, I can be the one that picks up the
hymn books and put them in the place. Hey, there's rubbish around after service, I can be the one
that picks it up and puts it in the bin. Hey, that's service, and you'll be appreciated,
and not just appreciated by the adults, you'll be appreciated by God. God will be pleased if
you serve in your local church. Find what you can do to serve in the house of God.
Please go to the book of Acts now, Acts 17 and verse number one, Acts 17 and verse number one.
Acts 17 verse one reads, Now when they had passed through Amphipolis and Apollonia,
they came to Thessalonica, where was a synagogue of the Jews. And Paul, now look at the next words,
as his manna was, went in unto them, and three Sabbath days reasoned with them out of the
scriptures, opening and alleging that Christ must need have suffered and risen again from the dead,
and that this Jesus whom I preach unto you is Christ. Hey, what is Paul doing here? He goes to
the synagogue of the Jews here. Hey, it's his manna to go there, but to do what? What's he
preaching? Opening and alleging that Christ must need have suffered and risen again from the dead.
What's that? The gospel. That's the gospel. Hey, Paul had a habit. He developed a habit
of every synagogue he would go to, I'm going to preach the gospel to these people.
Hey, he developed a habit of sowing in, a habit of preaching the gospel. And so not only should
you develop a habit of praying, which is great, not only should you develop a habit of going to
church, which is wonderful, but you should also develop a habit of preaching the gospel,
being a soul winner. You guys have everything available to you right now. You have a church,
you have a Bible. Hey, we go out soul winning. Hey, you can go and be a silent partner.
You say, Mom and Dad, I need to develop a habit of being a soul winner. Can I get out there this
Sunday with somebody? Mom and Dad, can you take me out? Hey, again, that would be music to my ears,
hearing that from the young people. Okay, just as we see Paul, that was his manner to go and
preach the gospel to the lost. You make that your habit. You develop that now. You develop that now
and you won't lose it when you get older. You continue making sure that you preach the gospel.
You know, I love hearing how the Mishos, sometimes they have friends over their house,
and the opportunity presents itself to give those friends the gospel. Right, brother Callum?
And you've had a few people saved in your house. Praise God. It's not just a door to those soul
winning. It's whatever interaction that you have, whatever friends you make. Hey, you go to the Big
Boing, you meet some kids there, whatever it is that you go to. You go ice skating, you meet a
few people. Hey, if you get an opportunity, give them the gospel. Tell them what Jesus has done
for them. You may not be able to get through the whole gospel presentation, but you can plant a
seed. You can give them John 3.16 and let these people know that they need a Savior. Make it your
habits. Make a decision, Lord, whenever I get a moment to be alone with one of my friends, I'm
going to give them the gospel. I'm going to plant a seed. I'm going to water that seed. One day,
Lord, I'm going to reap that harvest and you will. The promise of God is you definitely will.
You will see some of your friends, some of your family saved. You know, I think all of us have
family members that are unsaved, right? And maybe mum and dad have tried so hard to give them the
gospel and they've rejected it. But you know what? God can use young people. God can use children.
Why? Because you target the hearts of the grandparents. You target the hearts of the
uncles and aunties that are not saved and they might give you the time. They might give you their
ear to hear you speak about Jesus Christ and His salvation. You know, you guys have an advantage.
That's why I like taking one of my kids soloing with me because the doors are more receptive.
When there's a kid with me, people tend to be a lot nicer. When there's a child with me,
they tend to be willing to at least hear a little bit out, right? If it's just me and another man,
like who are these guys, right? But with a child, they're willing to give you the time of day.
You've got an advantage right now in your youth. Use it or you're going to lose it,
okay, when you get older. So develop a habit of giving the gospel to the lost.
Now please go to 1 Samuel 2. So point number one, that was my main point. We'll get through
the other points pretty quickly. But point number one is develop a habit, okay, in serving God,
in remembering God, yourselves. Don't wait for mom and dad to tell you,
you develop that habit yourself, okay? Now go to 1 Samuel chapter 2. 1 Samuel chapter 2.
And let's read the story. 1 Samuel chapter 2 verse 12.
Now the sons of Eli, now before we keep going, Eli was the high priest, okay? The high priest
had an important position, all right? I mean he was the main guy when he came to the temple,
worship, temple sacrifices, all that, right? And so he's serving God, this Eli, okay? He's serving
God, that's his role. He's like the, you could call me the pastor. View me as the pastor that way.
So for my kids, this is kind of like, let's pretend Eli is me, all right? Now the sons of Eli
were sons of Belial. Who's that? That's a devil. The children of the high priest became children
of the devil. They became reprobates. Think about that. Dad's serving in the house of God.
He's the high priest. He's doing all the things. He's supposed to be the closest to God.
He's supposed to represent Jesus Christ who's the high priest of the New Testament. And he's
own children go to the devil. It says they knew not the Lord. You know what would break your
parents' heart? Bringing their kids, dragging their kids to church week in, week out and their
children never getting saved. Their children hating the church, hating God and becoming
children of the devil. What do you learn there? I'll tell you the point. Point number two is
understand your parents can only take you so far. Your parents can only take you so far.
You must have your own personal faith in God. Your own personal faith in Jesus Christ.
You can only, your parents can only take you so far. Okay? Let's keep going. Verse number 13.
And the priest's custom with the people was that when any man offered sacrifice,
the pre-servant came while the flesh was in season with a flesh hook of free teeth in his hand
and he struck it upon into the pan or kettle or cauldron or pots. All that the flesh hook brought
up the priest took for himself. So they did in Shiloh unto all the Israelites that came thither.
Also before they burnt the fats, the pre-servant came and said to the man that sacrificed,
give flesh to roast for the priest for he will not have sodden flesh of thee but raw.
And if any man said unto him, let them not fail to burn the fat presently
and then take as much as thy soul desireth, then he would add to him, nay, but thou shall give it
me now and if not, I will take it by force. I wanted to bring to verse number 17. It says,
wherefore the sin of the young men, hey, the young men, the children of Eli were young men.
When are you to remember the Creator? When are you to remember the Lord in your youth?
Hey, the sons of Eli were young men. They did not remember the Lord. Okay, they became reprobate.
Wherefore the sin of the young men was very great before the Lord for men abhorred the offering
of the Lord. Listen, these children of the pastor or the priest, whatever you want to say,
they were so wicked that people hated coming to church or, you know, coming to offer sacrifices.
They abhorred the service of God. So why do we come here? These people are so wicked.
The children of the high priest are children of the devil. Listen, children, young people,
especially my children as the pastor here, you know what, if you're just a wicked child,
if you have no love for God, if you don't remember God, if you don't have your own
personal faith in God, you will cause others in the church to hate the house of God,
to hate the service of God and say, look, it doesn't work. Look how he messed up with his
children. And yes, you know what, there is a responsibility of the parents. Yes, Eli was a
terrible dad. Yes, Eli failed as a father. Okay, but as I said, your parents can only take you so
far. You have to make the choice and say, I'm going to make the God of my mum and dad, the God
of New Life Baptist Church, I'm going to make that God my God. That's your choice. I'm going to call
upon Jesus. I'm going to believe his gospel. I'm going to desire heaven and know that I have
everlasting life. I'm going to place my faith on Jesus. I'm going to call upon the name of the Lord
and settle this once and for all. I'm going to get saved because I don't want to become children of
the devil. Hey, it's going to be your own personal faith as young people. Okay, this is important.
I know sometimes preaching to the children is soft and lovely, but you need to hear this truth.
Your parents can only take you so far. You're going to have to take yourself through the power
that God gives you, you know, for the rest of your lives. Your parents are not always going to be
here. You know, your pastor may not always be around. Okay, you have to have your own personal
walk, your own personal faith in the Lord God. Please go to chapter 8, 1 Samuel chapter 8 verse
number 1. 1 Samuel chapter 8 and verse number 1.
So Eli, Eli wasn't a great guy anyway. Okay, and so we can see how his children went crazy.
Okay, we can see that his children were bad, but we have a great man in Samuel.
I mean we have 1 Samuel, 2 Samuel. We have books in the Bible named after Samuel. He's a great man.
A great prophet of the Lord. And in 1 Samuel chapter 8 verse 1 it says,
And it came to pass, when Samuel was old, that he made his sons judges over Israel.
So he points his sons, his children, in these positions of authority. Then it says in verse
number 2, Now the name of the firstborn was Joel, and the name of the second, Abiah. They were
judges in Beersheba, but then look at verse number 3. And his sons walked not in his ways,
but turned aside after Luca, that's money, and took bribes and prevented, perverted judgment,
perverted judgment. So even the son of a great prophet, a godly man, they did not follow after
the faith of their father. They went their own direction. They sought after money. They sought
after bribery. They perverted judgment. They did not pass righteous judgment. They took bribes
to not pass judgment correctly. They took those bribes. Look at verse number 4.
Then all the elders of Israel gathered themselves together, and came to Samuel and to Ramah,
and said unto him, Behold, thou art old, and thy sons walk not in thy ways. Now make us a king,
to judge us like all the nations. Now I don't know how Samuel failed. We don't have those
details, but it seems like he failed as a father as well to some extent. But we know at least
different from Eli, Samuel loved the Lord. Samuel served God. And parents, you need to understand
this. You can be someone that loves God. You can love Jesus. You can just serve God all the days
of your life. But you've got to pay attention to your children. Okay? They may not walk in your
ways. Okay? I'm not preaching to the parents now, but children, you have to learn and say, hey,
the God of my fathers, that is my God. The direction that my fathers are walking to serve God,
I'm going to follow up with that. You've got to make that decision. Otherwise, you can be like
the sons of Samuel and go after the money, the bribes, you know, pervert things. All right? Hey,
and these sons of Samuel, they could have taken on a great position, great authority in Israel.
They lost it all. The people didn't want them. You know, the Israelites did not want them. They
went and sought after a king instead, which wasn't God's initial plan for that nation.
What am I saying? I'm saying that understand, children, understand your parents can only take
you so far. You have to have your own personal walk with the Lord. Can you please go to Hebrews
chapter 12, Hebrews chapter 12, Hebrews chapter 12. I'll just read a passage to you while you're
turning to Hebrews 12. It's in 2 Timothy 1, 2 Timothy 1 verse 5. Paul says to Timothy,
he says, when I call to remembrance the unfeigned faith that is in thee. So he's saying to Timothy,
you've got this unfeigned, this feigned means fake, so it's not fake. You've got this faith
in you, he says to Timothy, which dwelt first in thy grandmother Lois and in thy mother Eunice,
and I am persuaded that in thee also. You know when Paul looked at Timothy, he says,
that's the same faith your grandmother had, and your mum, she followed after her mother's ways,
and then you Timothy, you followed after your mother. You've got the same faith,
and I can see that it's been passed generation to generation. Okay, so that's a great example.
We have a great example there. Not only a child following his parents' footsteps,
but also his parents following their parents' footsteps. You know, three generations of people
that were faithful to God, that faith being passed down, and children, that's what your parents want
from you right now. They want the next generation, that you know, yes, your parents believe in Jesus.
Your parents have a faith in God. They want that same faith to be passed down to you, for you to
have their own personal faith on Jesus Christ, your own personal walk with the Lord, okay,
yourself. You've got to own that. You've got to take that for yourself. Now you're in Hebrews
chapter 12, verse number two. So this is my third point. My third point is this, children,
and it's a very common saying, but it's important. I really want you to think about this.
The third point is set your eyes on Jesus. Set your eyes on Jesus. Don't set your eyes on
Cristiano Ronaldo or some other sporting hero, okay. Don't set your eyes on some man,
okay. And be careful how much you set your eyes on your parents. I say this because your parents
know, and I know, that they're not perfect, and I'm not perfect. And you, as you get older,
right now, you know, as young children, you know, if you're under the age of 10, you think your
parents are amazing. You think they're the best in the world, and they are. They are. They are
the best parents you can possibly have, okay. And you think they're the greatest, and they just
love God, and they're just doing the best, and, you know, everybody else in the world is wrong,
but your parents are always right. That's what you think when you're under 10. Amen. It's good
to think that way. But then you get older, and you get into your teenage years, and you go through,
you know, puberty, and the hormones, and all that kind of stuff, and that's important.
That's the Lord working in you to become a man, become a woman. But then your thoughts,
you start to develop your own thoughts. You start to develop your own ideas,
and you're not always in agreement with Mum and Dad. Mum and Dad do certain things, and you go,
I don't think that's the right thing to do. You have your own thoughts, your own opinion,
and that's fine, you know, because you're becoming a man. You're becoming a woman, right.
You develop, you're growing. You're becoming an adult. The Lord is working in your life,
okay. You start to have these ideas, and then you start to realize, Dad promised me last week he
was going to take me over there, but he hasn't done it. Hey, Dad did not keep his word. You're
going to start to notice that. You're going to start to notice, hey, pastor preaches on Sunday,
but my Mum's not doing that. My Dad's not doing that. Why? I know they love God.
I know they're trying their best, but why aren't they doing things? I thought they were perfect.
You start to get older. You start to notice the cracks. You start to notice the inconsistencies.
You start to notice that your parents aren't perfect, and that's a good place to be as well,
because that's the point you say, well, God, thank you for giving me my parents.
Thank you for giving me my parents. Thank you for bringing me up in a Christian home.
Hopefully that's your case, but now I realize, Lord, that I can't always set my eyes on my
parents. My parents are not always going to be perfect. They're not always going to be right,
but I know Jesus is always right. I know that Jesus is the same today, yesterday, and forever,
okay? Jesus does not change, and as you get older, children, you're going to have to make
that transition from going from, wow, my parents are amazing, and look, they're doing the best
they can, okay, to going, oh, Jesus, I need to have my eyes on you. You never change. You are
always right. You are perfect. I need to measure myself to your standard, Jesus, not to some other
man, okay? And look at Hebrews chapter 12, verse 2. It says, looking unto Jesus. Let me repeat
that. Looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before
Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.
Hey, you look to Jesus because He is the one that took your sin. Your parents did not die for your
sins, okay? Your parents are sinful, just like you, okay? Your parents make mistakes, just like
you, but the one that never sinned, the one that paid for your sins, the one that took your
suffering, the one that took the wrath of God for you was Jesus, and you need to make a decision as
you get older and say, wow, even your pastor, hey, pastor's not always right. He's a little
bit inconsistent. Hey, he preached that on Sunday, but I saw him on Friday. You know why? Because
we're not perfect. That's why. But Jesus is the one that's perfect. Jesus is the one that's
perfect. Men will let you down. Your parents will let you down. Your pastor will let you down.
Whatever man you set before you, they will let you down, but Jesus will never let you down.
Boy, if you make going to church about some man, you're going to be out of church because
we're all going to fail you. Just jot it down. Everyone's going to fail me. That's the truth.
Your parents have gone through this already. They've realized everyone fails me except God,
okay? And you have to understand, hey, the way that I stay serving God, the way I stay remembering
God, the way I stay in church is to put my eyes on Jesus. He will never leave me. He will never
forsake me. He will never let me down. And so it's wonderful that God has given you parents,
but as I said, they can only take you so far. You now need to have your own walk with God.
You need to have your own faith on Jesus Christ and you have your eyes set upon Him.
Can you go to Psalm 119? Psalm 119, please. Psalm 119 in verse number 98.
Parents are great, but they're not perfect, okay? Pastors are great, but they're not perfect.
Jesus though, He will never leave you. Psalm 119 verse 98.
And this is what I want for the children in this church. You know, God has given me as your pastor
a great blessing to pastor this church, to preach the Bible. You know, God has given your parents
great understanding of the Bible. You know, many of your parents were in false churches for a lot
of their lives. Then they got saved. Then they got themselves in a good church. They got themselves
the right Bible, right? I mean, they've gone through this process. They don't want you going
through that same process that they've gone through. They don't want you finding yourself
in some false church with some false prophets that's destroying your life. Hey, you've got an
advantage right now. You've got an advantage, okay? Look at Psalm 119 verse 98. It says,
thou through thy commandments has made me wiser than mine enemies,
for they are ever with me. So it's good to be wiser than your enemies. Look at verse number 99.
I have more understanding than all my teachers, for thy testimonies are my meditation. I understand
more than the ancients, because I keep thy precepts. You know what? You at your young age,
you can be wiser than your parents. You can have more knowledge than the generations of Christians
that have gone before you, as long as the testimonies of the Word of God are your meditation.
The Bible. You read the Bible. You spend time meditating God's Word. Say, God, how does this
apply to my life? What can I change? I understand more than the ancients, because I keep thy
precepts. What I'm saying to your children is this. I think we have a great church, you know?
And I know the different backgrounds that your parents have, and the adults have, and the
different levels of spirituality that we all have. We're at different levels. We all have different
experiences. We all have different backgrounds. And I praise God for every member that's part
of this church. I praise God for every adult, every parent that's trying to serve God with the
rest of their lives. But you know what, children? You can be better than us. You can have greater
knowledge than us. You can have greater works than us, because you're starting now. You're
starting in your youth. You've got the Word of God being preached to you every week. You can read
the Bible. You can be assured that my pastor loves me, and he's preaching me the truth.
And if you spend time in God's words, not only will you be wiser than your enemies,
but you'll have more understanding than all your teachers. You'll know more than all your teachers,
and you'll have greater understanding than all the ancients that have gone before you.
You have the opportunity, but don't waste your youth. You've got your youth now. Don't waste it.
Have fun. Enjoy. Great. This is a great time. You're going to look back in life,
and you're going to have all these great memories. Okay? Good. I love that. Good.
But then also have great memories and say, hey, remember when we sought the Lord? Remember when
we read the Bible? Hey, remember when we invited our friend over, and Dad gave him the Gospel?
I gave him the Gospel. Hey, those are great memories too. Hey, remember when Jesus was 12
years old, and he was able to talk about the doctrines of the Bible with all the other people
in the temple? Hey, remember when the adults in church did not know the answer to that verse?
Hey, but us as young children, we knew the answer. Praise God. That's what I want.
I want the young people in this church to talk about the Bible, to talk about God,
to talk about Jesus Christ as well, not just fun and games. There's a place for that. Hey,
but use your opportunity. Don't waste the opportunity you have now in your youth to
remember your Creator. Okay? Let's pray.