Young people, your searching days ought to be over. And don't you ever stand before Jesus or a court of law or anybody and say, I think it would have turned out different if I had ever had a chance. You've had your chance. You've lived in Canaan's land You've been exposed to the Bible night and day, and great preaching services every Thursday, Saturday, Sunday, and Sunday night. You've seen hundreds and thousands and thousands fall on their knees all across this auditorium. You had your opportunity. And you, if you ever go in any other direction, you're going to deliberately choose to go back to the devil and back to sin, and you'll have nobody to blame but you and the devil. I know you could say, well, brother-in-law, society was so wicked, I fell on my face. I got back around to my old friends, and they... Old friends, may I? If you haven't got more in you than they've got in them, you haven't gotten what I thought you got while you were here. My Bible said, he that is in you is greater than he that is in your old friend. And if you've got what you ought to have gotten, what you say you've gotten, you'll not have much of an appetite to be around them except to witness and tell them to come on to Jesus. And yet, this man I'm talking about tonight, made out of flesh and bones, just like I am. How much he weighed, I don't know. But, he said in chapter 3, in chapter 3 of the book of Philippians, verse 3, we are the circumcision which worship God in the Spirit, rejoice in Christ Jesus, and have no confidence in the flesh. And may I stop long enough to say that all you seniors are taking back the same chunk of flesh you brought out here. Same thing. It hasn't changed one bit. Just as soon as you get home, your flesh will say, I'm glad to be home. Let's get back at it. Same flesh. It will have the same desires, and it will be just as weak and rotten as it was when you came out here. But your hope is going to be that you've got more spiritual life in that spiritual man than you have, and you're going to stand, and you're going to tell the flesh to stand aside. There'd be no temptation if your flesh wasn't connected with you. As long as you've got a depraved body, you're going to... But Paul said, have no confidence in the flesh. No confidence in the flesh. Do you know what he said? I know that in me that is in my flesh that dwells no good thing. For the will is present with me, but how to perform that which is good I find not." He said, when I get ready to do good, up jumps the devil. And the good that I would, I do not. The evil that I would not, that I do no longer. I but sin, Well, then he cried, I think, to the top of his voice and said, Oh, who shall deliver me from this dead body, from this stinking flesh? And Jesus said, I will. He said, I thank God through Jesus Christ. And then he comes right into the 8th chapter and said, There is therefore now no condemnation to them that are in Christ Jesus. He got a member of the end crowd. Ah, listen. There's no excuse, no excuse for any of us to live a defeated life after we've been saved. All right, let's go a little further. Verse 7, "...what things were gained to me, those I counted lost for Christ. Doubtless I count all things, but lost for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord, whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and do count them but dung, that I may win Christ, and be found in Him, not having mine own righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God, by faith." Notice, it's his righteousness, and you get it with his faith. Did you know that when you get saved, you've got the same kind of righteousness he had? You've got the same faith he had. You're supposed to have the same mind. You're supposed to think just like he thought. We're to walk like he walked. We're to talk like he talked. And he said, verse 10, that I may know him, that I may know him, and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings, being made conformable unto his death." You know, I'm going to say something, and the mind must be up above board now, that I may know him. You know, this generation has been the immoral generation. You talk about ungodly, no control. This has been the pill age. This has been the abortion age. This has been the homosexual age. This has been the perverted age. And I believe that the perversion we see in this country, all of it was born because of a perverted pulpit. Paul talked about it in Galatians chapter 1. But he said, and I said it on the radio when I was listening the other day, if, he said, if an angel comes into my church house, into the synagogue where I am preaching, If he just splits right in and sits on my shoulder, right on top of the pulpit stand, and said, I just want to let you know I'm from heaven, and I've brought to you another gospel, Paul would jump up there and say, you're lying! You've got the curse of God on you! That's what he said. Now, let me give you quickly what I wanted to say, that I may know him. Now, that to me is very intimate fellowship with him. which most people never do. You know what happens when, and this is a tender illustration, but it's Bible, it's scriptural, when a lovely couple get married, before a little child is born or conceived, they know each other in the marriage relationship. Now let me leave that right where it is. Paul is saying that I may know Him. Think of it. I want to have spiritual relationship with Him. What do you suppose would be the offspring or the outcome? Don't you think it'd be souls, really? Don't you suppose if you ever had a real intimate relationship with Jesus that somebody would get born again? That you'd have such compassion? Don't you imagine you'd have some little children? Don't you believe that ought to be the desire of every Christian? It's to win somebody to Christ. I was in a bank yesterday, talking to a very elegant, he's the first vice president of another bank, and we do some business with three banks. And I gave him some testimony, showed him the magazines, gave him various things, and invited him to come out to see. And I said to him, are you a Christian? Have you been born again? Folks, we ought not to miss our opportunities to make people, not just God conscious, but Christ conscious. I talked to a probation officer this afternoon and pled for one of my boys. And he pulled his old rank by saying, yep, a lot of times they want to get religion. Get religion. Get them out of it. The probation officer I talked to the other day up in Tulsa, he said, you know, they use this being saved and born again as an excuse. I said, but sir, if any man be in Christ, he's a new Christian. And by their fruits, you'll know them. There's one test, seniors. There's one test, young people. And that's by their fruits you're going to be known. Nobody will ever accuse you of being a Christian. when you have a beer bottle in one hand and a cigarette in the other. The young man you go with will never, will never figure out that you're a Christian as long as you're sloppy in your courtship. As long as you do like other young people feel like, you'll never be accused of being a Christian. Now then, Paul is going to tell us something, and I'll give it to you as quickly as I can. You'd think that Paul was already there. But he said, "...not as though I had already attained, either were already perfect, but I follow after, if that I may apprehend for that for which also I am apprehended of Christ Jesus." Brethren, I tell it not myself to have apprehended, but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, reaching forth unto those things which are before, I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God. What is it? Christ Jesus. Go ahead. Run off to college, if you will. Get you another diploma. So what? And then I, you know, I feel like maybe choosing a subject, if I was going to preach for the next 30 or 40 minutes and I'm not, I could just choose a subject. You're graduating? So what? I mean, there's a lot of people graduating. You're not the only one that's graduating. There are thousands. There's, I guess, a few million graduates. So what? Excuse old granddaddy for a moment, and let me dabble off in something, and you'll understand me. When you get as old as I am, you get an excuse at least to say some things that you can't say when you're younger. letter this week to the subject of proud, and I'm scared of that word proud. That's proud flesh that used to kill our old dog. But the only way to get it off is to burn it off. But anyhow, they said, you are a proud granddaddy. And I read on, I said, what about? I knew I had, we've got eight grandchildren. And it said, your granddaughter, Susanna, has been chosen as outstanding high school student, graduating, valedictorian of a big senior class. And her brother, little Clint, who was down here the other day, graduated from Baylor this year, and he was valedictorian. And so they wanted to know, you know, if I'd like to have some pictures in that magazine or the book, a big book, honoring students that have been outstanding in their achievement, And I could say, so what? But she's a Christian. She lives for Jesus. She sings for Jesus. And to me, that's more important than even being valedictorian, even though I certainly would not frown on that. But I'm simply saying, young people, just remember, whatever you do not do for Christ won't be worth doing. He's got some choices he wants to make for you. Number one, he's already chosen you to be his child. And you accepted his choice and said, that's good, thank you dear Lord. And he said, he chose you as one of the very few to get to come to Rebecca. With 500 and some odd over on the desk, and mothers and dads will weep themselves to sleep tonight across this country, hoping, wishing, and praying that the telephone will ring And he'd be welcome at three o'clock in the morning. Oh, you don't mean it. Isn't that wonderful? We'd be on our way. But you see, no room. Just no room. So he chose you, out of all the girls in trouble, he chose you to come to Rebecca. You know as well as you're sitting out there looking at me with those lovely graduating robes and caps and tassels and all the rest of it, you know that this time last year you didn't dream you'd be sitting there tonight, one year later. Neither did your parents. But, isn't it sweet that you wouldn't change it for anything? I mean, if you had a chance to reverse it and go back twelve months, you'd say, I believe I'll let her go just like this. This is one year I'll never forget all the rest of my life. And so, Paul said, I haven't gotten there, but he said, this one thing I do, just one thing, I'm going to specialize in one thing, I'm going to press toward the mark for the prize of the high quality of God, and it's going to be located in Jesus. You'll never get the highest prize, you'll never be here vowed at Cornish Ludethorpe, and you'll never get the award or prize or anything until you get in Jesus. You're going to have to get in Him. All right? I want you to turn to 2 Timothy, then I close the message. This is the text in particular for the seniors. This is the last of the admonitions of a preacher. Well beaten, well marked. This is one preacher that didn't have to carry his ordination certificate with him to prove he was a preacher. He didn't have to carry his preaching license with him. All he had to do was just take off his little old cap and said, count him nuts. Take off his shirt and said, how many stripes do you see back there? Well, he said, about solid. Said, how'd you get to Old Well? Preaching. I got to talking about Jesus, and they told me, they said, ìYou canít talk about Him around here. Youíre outside the gate as far as weíre concerned.î He said, ìI know, but Iím inside the Christ.î And in this chapter, heís lining it up. He said, ìTimothy, my son, Iíve got a closing word for you.î Chapter 4, verse 2, ìPreach the Word.î Be quick on the draw. be instant. I think Paul was quick-draw. Man, he'd hit a sinner before a sinner could get his pistol out. I mean, he'd testify, witness, preach the Word, be instant and see how it's seasoned, reprove, rebuke, exhort with all longsuffering and doctrine. Then he tells about what's coming. And then in verse 6 he said, I'm now ready to be offered I am now ready to be offered, and the time of my departure is at hand. I have fought a good fight. I have finished my course. I have kept the faith. There is a crown of righteousness laid up for me, he said, which the Lord The righteous judge shall give me at that day, not to me only, but unto all them also that love his appearing. And then he mentions a man by the name of Demas, that he hath forsaken me. Why? Well, he loved this present world. He departed at Thessalonica, Crescens to Galatia, Titus unto Dalmatia, only Luke. I've got one left with me. Luke is still here with me. And as we close tonight, at least you've finished one of the courses. You've finished your high school course. You've graduated with honors and from an honorable school, from a school that had great Christian teachers. Every teacher loves and prayed for you. We had no violence in our school, though we had violent people when they came in. Some made some efforts to be violent, and God conquered them this year. I believe that the Lord gave us the greatest school year we've ever had this year. I believe the greatest progress was made, though we started late, and though we came back and opened As I was a criminal, they said, when the school opened, I was being tried for being a criminal, because they said, he doesn't have a license. And we believe those are sufficient for criminal charges. And yet the Lord delivered us out of that. And the county attorney said, I'm not going to file anymore. And then the order of the honorable judge in Austin that closed our schools down was considered by three appellate judges and thrown completely out. And all the damage and all the tears we shed And Mrs. Cameron, and Brother Cameron, and all the heartaches, and the loss of girls' lives. I mean, their future was darkened by such an illegal act. And yet, when we started up in September, the greatest progress we've ever made. Our teachers were at their best. Our pupils responded faster. And tonight, we have so much to be thankful for. And I'd like to finally say to the seniors, it's not enough to be saved. That's good. Getting saved will take you all the way to heaven. But getting in the will of God will help you to live nobly on the way and enjoy every mile of the trip. And remember, every last one of you, become immortal. in your soul when you get saved. You become immortal in your life when you get in the will of God. And our little girl, our little singer over yonder, it's not for me to choose. It's God's business to choose. And if you'll leave the choice with Him, and let Him be your quarterback in this sweet game of life, He'll never miscall signal. He'll take care of the husband when the time comes. He'll take care of the family when the time comes. He'll supply all of your needs. One more, and that's Sherry. If you'd have told me five and a half years ago, and she's, I suppose, our veteran in the home, because she stayed put, Not because she didn't have a place to go. What do you think Dr. Compton and Mrs. Compton and I in Florida, with all their nice holdings and practice and home and all of the tremendous things they got to offer her, she had a career as a professional golfer. And about the greatest athlete I've ever known in the opposite sex was Sherry Compton. They'll mention everything, whether it's basketball, baseball, hardball, softball, or football. I don't believe in women playing football, but if I ever got a women's team up, I'd want her to be the captain of it. Now, what am I saying? If Jesus could do that for her when she didn't want him to, and her mother and daddy had not taught her to be a dedicated, godless Christian, not at all, and yet she came in here and stayed almost against the will of her parents in order to be of service and help little girls. My, what a blessing! I'm just simply saying, boys, God's got something for you to do. Your life might be important to Him. He's already written it down, the will, the blueprint for your life. And He's going to use you if you yield to Him. What should I say as we close? Just this. Oh, to be like the King! Oh, to be like the King! Blessed Redeemer, blessed. Pure as Thine. Come in Thy sweetness. Come in Thy fullness. Come in Bounce down in. Down on in. Or bounce. Sing it again. Oh, to be like Him. That's right. That's right. Oh, to be like Him. Yes. Where are we going from here, honey? Where are we going from here? Graduating tonight so far. So far. come. Brother John, I think three, two, one, so be it. Samsthine Omen. Deep on my heart. Oh, to be like Just want to be like Him, don't you? Oh, to be blessed with Him, pure as coming by sweetness. Heaven must be looking tonight. The blood ones, no doubt, are looking tonight.