Your youth director for 90% of you here tonight, your youth director, Brother Gable, just talked about taking notes, and I'm going to let you know that I promise you that after tonight, there will be a text that we will work through But tonight there is not one text. It's going to be more of a shotgun spread, okay? So I don't want to frustrate you if you write in that top line there the text. There's going to be several we're going to go to tonight. And here's the reason for that, because I kind of want to lay a foundation for the rest of the week. We're going to be going through different texts. Philippians chapter 4, Ecclesiastes chapter 12, 2 Corinthians chapter 10. And we're going to be going through verse by verse those throughout the week. But what I want to do tonight, I want to lay what I believe to be a very important foundation. And that means we're going to have to cover several different areas. And so if you'll be patient with me through that, and I'll try to do my best to communicate it to you as clearly and as concisely as I can. I take after my father. Concisely is not actually, you know, doesn't come natural to me. So you pray with me about that. I do want to say three things before we begin. I want to just commend Brother Gable. I have, last year I was impressed, this year I'm also impressed with just his ability to organize a tremendous camp. And I just want to publicly thank you, Brother, for the work that you've put in. He contacted me weeks, I want to say months perhaps, at least two months, praying for each of you in his youth department and really burdened about the theme. I've been to a lot of youth camps, not as a speaker, mostly as a person who was a camper, and I cannot think of a better theme for young people than the mind. It is a tremendous theme, and I'm excited for that, and I just want to thank you publicly, brother. for the work you put into the camp, and it's so well organized. And I'll tell you, Lehigh Valley, you guys do a great job setting an example to other churches. You always do things first class. I saw your van out there, that little white one with the lettering on it. I was like, what a beautiful vehicle. And then I saw your bus. And I said, well, one out of two ain't bad, right? So, no. I'm just kidding. And then it's good to see I have a friend I haven't seen in a long time. Brother Metacroft is here tonight. Some of you may not know this about me, but I found out tonight that we have something in common. Brother Metacroft is a triathlete. Do you guys know what that is? Okay. I am a try-to-be athlete. It's sort of the same thing. So, if you're questioning, will I be at the 645 Horizon Shine Run, I will be doing my own. It will be the 645 Horizon Shine Run to McDonald's. So, place your orders tonight, alright? No, I'm just kidding. I am glad to be here, and I want to thank all those that went in, the counselors that are here, and the prayers that have been put into the week. I look forward to a great week. This is the part, I get the long-windedness from my dad, I get this part from my mom. I can cry, I cry very easily, so. I'm especially excited this year, because my daughter is here, and she's one of the campers, and so I'm happy for that. She was one of the two that stood up from our church, so. All right, if you would take your Bibles, please, and turn to Romans chapter 8, Romans chapter 8, and we'll begin this evening. Let's pray. Father in heaven, Lord, we're so grateful that we can come to you at any time and about anything. And Father, thank you for the weather that you gave us to get to the chapel building tonight and holding off the rain. I pray that you'd give us a good evening. I pray that you'd help the young people, that they would have their minds focused on your word. I pray you'd help me stay out of the way that they would hear from you. As Brother Gable prayed earlier, that really is our desire, is that these young folks hear in their hearts, not just in their ears. And I know that no man can do that. We ask that your Spirit would be able to reach their hearts tonight and I pray Lord that even we wouldn't wait till Friday. I pray that decisions would be made this evening for your glory and Father that would please you. So our desire tonight, we want to please you in all that we do. I pray that you'd help me as I preach. I pray you'd help me be clear and concise. I pray Lord that you'd help the young people as they listen Father, we realize that the main reason we're here is not the preaching, it's the response to the preaching. And we know that is the most important, so I pray that you'd allow that to happen this evening for every single young person here and for all the counselors and adults where applicable. Thank you again for the churches that are represented here. What a blessing it is to know that there are other churches that can encourage each other and come together. And Father, I pray You'd bless all the pastors here and the churches that are represented. Give us a good night through Your Word, by Your Spirit. We ask these things in Jesus' name, Amen. Romans 8, verse 5, the Bible says, Now, there's a pretty self-evident truth here and that's this, that there are things of the flesh and there are things of the spirit. That means that there are spiritual things and there are fleshly things. There are worldly things and carnal things and there are spiritual, holy, godly things. Verse 6, for to be carnally minded is death, but to be spiritually minded is life in peace. And we know why that's true because of verse 5. If I'm carnally minded, that means I'm minding the things of the flesh. If I'm spiritually minded, I'm minding the things of the Spirit. So, I will do spiritual things if I'm spiritually minded. But I will do worldly things, carnal things, wrong things, wicked things, evil things, if I'm carnally minded. And so you understand the great importance of your mind thinking right. Because your mind affects your actions. And your actions are what you will give account. You will give an account for your thoughts. Jesus said that as He preached, that it's not just those that commit adultery, it's those that look on a woman in lust. It's not just those that commit murder, it's those that have hatred in their heart. We will give an account. And the reason Jesus could say that is because that's where the actions start. The actions start in the mind, and they develop. The thoughts go out, and then the actions follow. Your mind is exactly what Brother Gable said earlier. It is a battleground. It is not surprising. The Bible tells us very clearly that we wrestle not against flesh and blood. What that means, to put it simply, is this. People are not your problem. We wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities. And there's a very important term there, spiritual wickedness. That means that it's a spiritual battle. And that battle is fought in your heart and in your mind, how you think about things. Now I want to tell you this evening why I'm happy for you. I'm happy for you that you have pastors that care enough about you to send you to a camp that puts a premium on preaching. There are a lot of camps that you could be sent to. You're young people, you like to play games, you like to get dirty, you like to have fun, you like to do water sports, whatever it may be. And so parents can send you there, but your parents, your pastor, your youth pastor, people in your life who own authority over you, think enough of you to send you to a camp where there is preaching. Now you may be wondering, why is that a good thing? I like the games, I like the fun, and there's nothing wrong with having fun. The reason it matters about preaching is because by a man standing up here and opening up the Bible and giving you truth and preaching to you, what we are saying to you is we have an expectation that you can do something with what you hear. There's a reason that there are no second graders here tonight. Because second graders can hear things and they can hear facts and they can memorize things, but to put it into action, it's not really going to happen. But you're different. Every one of you here tonight has the potential to do something with what you hear. That's why we are commanded to not just be hearers of the Word. You were not brought to camp to hear preaching. You were brought to camp so that you could do something with what you hear when you go back home. And I want to tell you, you ought to be thankful that you have adults in your life that think that highly of you. That you can take preaching. Because preaching is special. It's different than just sharing or talking or having a bonfire discussion where, you know, the sweatshirt sleeves gets pulled down, right? And we write something down on a piece of paper and throw it in the fire. Right? No, here we say, no, we want to come into a place, open up the Bible, and we want to hear the Word of God preached. Preaching is different because preaching calls for action. Preaching demands a verdict. Preaching puts the responsibility on the hearer. The preacher preaches and speaks and then says, now, what are you going to do with it? In short, There is an expectation that every one of you will be a doer of what you hear tonight. Jesus believed that when He preached. In Matthew chapter 7 verses 24 and 26, here's what Jesus said. There are going to be many that hear Me, but there's two categories. There aren't four categories, there are two categories. The wise one is those who hear Me and then do something with what I say. They obey. They follow through. But the foolish man is the one who hears me. It's not the one who's ignorant. It's not the one who wasn't privileged to hear Jesus preach. Think of that privilege to hear Jesus preach. Allow yourself to think about that. That there were people that got to hear Jesus, the Word manifest in the flesh, preach. And Jesus said, I'm not talking about others out there. I'm talking about those that hear My voice. and do nothing with what I say. They don't listen. They don't follow. I will liken that person unto a foolish man that built his house upon the sand. Here's basically what they're saying. I know better. I know what Jesus is saying. I know what He's teaching, but I know better. I know I want a house. I know what I want to do. I know how I can build it, and I'll do it my own way. If you do it your own way, it may seem right to the man. There's a way that seemeth right to a man, but the end's destruction. Nothing is new. Jesus is exactly right. Do you realize how privileged you are? That you are either attending, I don't know how many of you grew up in church, or the fact that you're here tonight tells me that you're associated with a Bible-preaching church. That every one of you has heard the Word of God preached and given through devotions, through teaching, through classes. The majority of the world has not had the privilege that you have had. to hear the Lord's Word exposited and explained to you so that you could do something with it. That is a wonderful privilege. But you now fall into the category of those that Jesus spoke to. Because now, of this group right here, there will be two categories. Not four. Not three. Two. There will be those that hear the Word preached and apply it and do it, and then there will be those that hear the Word preached and do not apply it and do not do it. The first is wise, the second is foolish. And that's not to be mean, that's just to be factual. And that's what preaching is. It's factual, it's truth, because what we are dealing with matters for eternity. Eternity. Eternity. There's an expectation that you will be a doer of the Word, not a hearer only. And this is not something new. This concept of a man getting up and taking what God has given him and giving it to a group of people is not new. I want you to take your Bibles and turn with me to Deuteronomy 30. And for those that did keep their notes from last year, which I'm sure some of you did, right? You probably went over them on your way here in the bus and you were reading over your notes. Well, let's say that you did that. You're going to find some things that are repeated again, but repetition is a good teacher. In Deuteronomy chapter 30, I want you to understand that even though this was dealing with the children of Israel, there are some truths that apply to you. You are a special group. And I want to say this before we get to the text, that there is a danger with young people who are raised in church. And I feel bad in a way because there is this sort of idea that your approach to the youth group, especially in the Baptist churches where we're very conservative, for the most part in standards and in our preaching and in our conduct and all that. And there's this fear that we'll raise Pharisees. And that's a good fear because it's possible to raise Pharisees. If someone is raised in religion and not saved, it's very easy to turn into a Pharisee, where you put your faith into a way of life instead of putting your faith in Christ. And so there's this day, well, we don't want to raise Pharisees. We don't want to raise legalist kids. You know, we want to make sure that, you know, they're well balanced. And that's true. I'm all for that. But there's another fear that I'm more concerned about. It's not that you end up becoming Pharisees, which, of course, we don't want that. But there's another one where you feel as if you're being left out of the good stuff in life. that there's a whole world out there of things to do and things to see, and you've just been so protected that you're not able to experience those things. I want to tell you that you are looking at it the wrong way. You are being protected because you are being blessed. God created every one of you. He has a purpose for every one of your lives. And that's not some Joel Osteen thing that we say. That's Bible. Even Saul. who murdered people, who put Christians in jail, women and children. The Apostle Paul said this, when it pleased God who separated me from my mother's womb and called me by His grace to reveal His Son in me, that I might preach Him among the heathen, I conferred not with flesh and blood. And he goes on to give his testimony. But there's a very interesting phrase in there and it was this, Saul knew that God knew what His plan for Paul's life would be when He formed Saul in the womb. That's how special you are to the Lord, that He has placed you in a place that puts a premium on God's Word and God's ways. You are a privilege tonight. Know that. You are just like the children of Israel. Imagine the privilege of being born into an Israeli family instead of the Philistines. Or the Amalekites, or the Syrians. Rahab, she finally got her life right with the Lord, but it took a long way to get there. Similar to my testament, which we'll get to maybe later on in the week. But you are being raised right. That's a blessing, that's not a curse. And so you are in a group that has been given God's Word, much like Israel. And here's what Moses said. So they have this truth. Here's what he says, verse 11. For this commandment, this Word from God, which I command thee this day, is not hidden from thee, neither is it far off. Isn't that a blessing? He says in verse 12, It is not in heaven that thou shouldst say, Who shall go up for us to heaven and bring it unto us, that we may hear it and do it? Neither is it beyond the sea that thou shouldst say, Who shall go over the sea for us and bring it unto us, that we may hear it and do it? But the Word is very nigh. That means it's very near. It's right by you. It's in your mouth. and in thy heart that thou mayest do it." There's a reason you memorize Scripture. There's a reason you hide God's Word in your heart, that you do it, that you obey it. Beloved young people, do you realize that you are a special group of people? Every young lady here and every young man here, you fit the description of verses 11 and 12. You don't have to worry about where is God's Word. Where is it? You probably have seven copies of it in your house. You don't have to wonder, who's going to go to God on my behalf and find out what He wants for my life? You have it in your lap. You have God's Word. There's a competition this week about memorizing Scripture. It will literally be in your mouth. But God gives you the grace to keep it in your heart that you may do it. You are privileged to have the Word of God so accessible to you. So many young people pray in their devotions, tomorrow in God and I time, and say, Lord, I see all these verses, I just want something from you. Give me something. Give me something today. Give you something? You have it. It's 66 books bound together. It's God's Word. It's a living Word. It's life. You have it. God has given you something the majority of the world does not have. The completed Revelation. And you have it in your lap. And you've memorized parts of it. You have it. The prayer is not, Lord, give me something today. The prayer is, Lord, please give me the wisdom and the understanding I need for what you have already given me. Help me understand what you've given me. Help me understand the Bible. And that goes to the mind, which we'll get to tomorrow. That was a little commercial for tomorrow night's message, all right? Next verse, 15. Here's what the preacher says. You have God's Word. You have it in your mouth. You have it in your heart, so you may do it. V. 15, "'See, I have set before thee this day life and good and death and evil.'" There aren't four options, there's two options. V. 16, "'And that I command thee this day to love the Lord thy God, to walk in His ways, and to keep His commandments and His statutes and His judgments, that thou mayest live and multiply.'" A young person, It shouldn't take a 38-year-old guy to get up in front of you and tell you about the heartache of not obeying the Lord. And the heartache of going through life with not a testimony, but a reputation. And having your life where you're not living according to the Word of God. It shouldn't take that to convince you that it's worth it to serve the Lord. What it should take is the Bible alone. You don't need testimony after testimony of adults who got saved later in life. You have the Word of God, and that is authoritative enough. You have a God that says, I will protect you from all of that. I will enable you to serve Me from a teenager through the rest of your life. What a privilege to live a life pleasing to God as a teenager. As a single young person, as a married person, as a parent, as a grandparent, there is so much opportunity and potential in this room to please God with entire lives. And that is so overwhelming. But listen, it's Scripture. It's Scripture. He puts out the choice. I can't make you do it. Your pastor can't make you do it. Here's what the preacher says. And if we could communicate to you anything, it would be this tonight, that we want you to love the Lord thy God, we want you to walk in His ways, and we want you to keep His commandments, His statutes and His judgments, that you might live and multiply, and that the Lord your God will bless you in the land whither thou goest to possess it. In other words, where you go in life, God will bless you. That's what we want for you. But here's the thing, we can't make it happen. Even Madison Reagan, right there in the middle row, raised in a pastor's home, two parents that love her, love the Lord, trying to raise her as best we can. I cannot make my daughter do this. Here's what has to happen. He says this, Verse 18, I denounce unto you this day that you shall surely perish. You shall not prolong your days whether thou pass over Jordan. Verse 19, I call heaven and earth to record this day against you that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing. Therefore, you choose life. Choose life. Choose life. that both thou and thy seed may live." All he can do is lay out the facts. The facts are this. You don't need someone to come down from heaven and give you God's Word. You already have it. You have it in your mouth, you have it in your heart that you might do it. I want you to live for the Lord. I want you to walk in His ways. I want you to be blessed. But I can't make it. I have set before you the choice. So you have to decide. You, young people, have to decide. What's it going to be? Are you going to choose life? Spiritually minded? Minding spiritual things? Where there is life and peace? See, nothing new under the sun. What Moses says in Deuteronomy is not new when Paul says it in Romans 8. Life happens when you follow the One who is the way, the truth, and the life. So what's it going to be? Spiritually minded with life and peace, or carnally minded? Death. And exactly what he says here in verse 18. He says, I denounce you, you shall perish. That's death. Maybe not physically, but definitely with your life, blessings, and then of course eternally, which would be the most sad thing. Let me get back to my thought here, and that was this, is that this idea of preaching before a group of people that have been blessed enough to know God's Word, but still expecting them to do something with it is not new. Moses did it. I have set before you life and death. Choose life. But Moses wasn't the only one. Joshua 24. You're probably very familiar with this. I'd like you to turn there quickly. We're going to go through a few more verses. Are you still with me? Okay, just checking. Very good. And I forget what time I got up here, brother, so do you know what time it was? Joshua 24, verse 14. Very famous verse. Now therefore, fear the Lord, and serve Him in sincerity and in truth. And put away the gods which your father served on the other side of the flood and in Egypt, and serve ye the Lord." This is the preacher. This is a man who is trying to lead people on God's behalf. And here's what he says, you have to do something. I can't carry you on my back. I can't make you spiritual. So you, you have to put away the God that's in your mind. You have to put it away and serve God. And he puts the choice to him, verse 15. If it seem evil unto you to serve the Lord, choose you this day whom you will serve. You know, you're going to serve somebody, you're going to serve something. You might as well make it public. Choose you this day whom you will serve, whether the God that your father served or the God of the Amorites in whose land you dwell. But then here's what Joshua says, and I love this. Because He says, I can't make the decision for you. I can't make you choose to serve God. But I can tell you what I'm going to do. As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord. Young people, I want you to listen to me. If you have a father and a mother, that have made that decision in their life and said, I know that they don't understand everything yet, but I will tell you this, that as for us right now, while my children are here, we're going to serve the Lord, you ought to pray and thank God for parents like that. Joshua said to those that could decide, choose you this day whom you will serve. And I say to you tonight, young people, you have to make a choice. Don't wait till Friday. If you wait till Friday, you'll miss most of the week. Wouldn't it be better to be saved tonight or to make things right with the Lord tonight so that you can enter the rest of the week right with the Lord and ready to receive all He has for you? Don't wait till Friday night and say, well, I want to wait for the grand finale. Now, don't do that. You'll miss the whole week. Tonight, choose. Make the right choice. If you're lost, be saved. And if you're saved, then you have to examine yourself. Where are you? Where are your priorities? Who are you trying to please? What are you trying to do? What are your goals? What are your priorities? Moving on quickly. Elijah, 1 Kings chapter 18, verse 21. Don't turn there. You can just write the reference down. 1 Kings 18, verse 21. Very famous question. How long halt ye between two opinions? Not four opinions, not three opinions, two opinions. Same thing. But I do want you to turn to this reference. It's in Jeremiah chapter 4. Jeremiah chapter 4. And I want you to see this because this speaks to our week. This speaks to the week that we have before us. Jeremiah chapter 4. Notice with me, please, if you would, Jeremiah 4 and verse 14. Now, I know this was written to Israel, but there's an old saying that's still true. Not everything was written to us, but everything in the Bible was written for us. And what that means is we can glean things from the Scriptures. And here's what God, who changes not, says to Jerusalem. V. 14, Jeremiah 4. O Jerusalem, wash thine heart from wickedness, that thou mayest be... What? What's that word? Saved. How long shall thy vain thoughts lodge within thee? How much longer are you going to allow those vain thoughts to lodge, to live, to be locked in you? Do you know why he asked that question? Because the vain thoughts were affecting their heart. That's why they had to watch their heart. because of the vain thinking. Their mind affected their life. How they thought affected their life. And He says, wash it that thou might be saved. I told you already about Jesus in Matthew 7. about the wise man and the foolish man. Again and again and again in Scripture, you see a man standing up on behalf of God as an ambassador of truth and saying, you have to make a decision. You have to choose. How long are you between two opinions? Make the right decision. Pleading with the people to serve God and love God. Another man beseeched people too. And since it started raining, we'll just stay here another hour, okay? Romans 12. Here's another man pleading with people, with saints. Some save, some not. Romans 12, verse 1, "...I beseech you therefore, brethren..." There's an assumption that the reader is a Christian and so that they've already given their life to the Lord, so the idea of sacrifice is not a foreign one to them. You know what I mean by that when I say it's not a foreign concept? It means it's not anything that's out of the ordinary. If you're saved, you should already know what sacrifice is because you've given your life to Christ, right? He's the Lord of your life. I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies at living sacrifice, wholly acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. Do you know why you ought to serve the Lord? Here it is. This is really deep. This is deep theology. Are you ready for this? Because it makes sense to. That's why you ought to serve God. It is absolutely reasonable for us to serve. When you consider what God has done, when you consider the mercies of God, I beseech you therefore, Lehigh Valley Baptist young people, I beseech you therefore, Community Baptist young people, I beseech you therefore, Victory Baptist young people, by the mercies of God, look back on your life and look at the mercies of God. And then you realize serving God, that just kind of makes sense. After all He's done for me, how can I not want to serve Him? But there's a problem. It's not that easy, is it? And the Holy Spirit knows that. And so He writes verse 2. He has the Apostle Paul write verse 2. And be not conformed to this world, but be transformed. And then he tells us how, by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good, acceptable, and perfect will of God. Let me say quickly, the will of God is not... I said this last year, but it's worth repeating. The will of God gets treated like some pirate treasure. that if you do the right things and you make the right decisions and you go along the right path, then good news, you'll find God's will for your life. And we live in such fear that I'm out of the will of God. I want to be in the will of God. Listen, the will of God is easy to discern. It's easy to discern. If you're lost, you need to be saved. That's God's will for your life. You need to be saved. If you're saved, here's God's will for your life, you are to be sanctified. And sanctified means separated unto God. That means living a holy life. That means living a life pleasing to God. And if you're saved and you are set apart, the third thing is, here's why you're set apart, so that you can serve God. So the will of God for every person is to be saved, sanctified, and serving Him. Because that's where the pleasure is found in serving God. I am the happiest, you will be the happiest when we are serving the Lord. When we are doing what He wants us to do. Now, that's going to look different for a lot of different people, but I promise you this. I'm not just saying this to be funny. I promise you this. If you are seriously striving to live a sanctified, holy life, you will know exactly where God wants you to be serving Him. You don't have to treat it like it's some thing that you may never find. God's will is easy to discern. You just keep following the Spirit through His Word. All right. That was extra, just so you know, okay? Now, he says this, we have to be, the will of God, saved. And by the way, let me say this about being saved, all right? And I realize that you all go to strong Bible-preaching churches. I know that you know this, the idea of being saved. But there's a tendency for young people to hear truth so much that it loses its potency. And you forget what it really means to be saved. Does anyone know what the word saved means? I don't mean what does it mean when a person is saved. I mean what does the word saved mean? Anybody know? Yes ma'am, in the purple. What did you say? Rescued. That's exactly what it means. And that's exactly what a sinner needs in their life. A sinner does not need to wear a longer skirt to get to heaven. A sinner doesn't need to carry a King James Bible to get to heaven. A sinner needs Christ to rescue them from a deserving eternity in hell. Because of how we live our lives, we live them selfishly. We live them for ourselves. And because of that, we have offended a holy God who gave personal experience, personal testimony. He gave me life, He gave me talents, He gave me ability, and I used all of them for myself. I spent my life trying to please me. That is offensive to the Creator. And so I transgressed His law. I disobeyed how He wanted His created being to live. And because of that, because of that transgression, I deserved hell. But God in His great goodness offered a way of salvation. He offered a way to be rescued for the sinner. Isn't that wonderful? That means this, it doesn't matter how bad I was, how much my sin abounded, God's grace did much more abound. And He rescued me. And if you have been saved, that is what has happened to you. You've been rescued. Can you imagine being saved from a burning car wreck? and then never giving the one who rescued you the time of day? Could you even think of that? We would say, no, that's ridiculous, that's so ungrateful. No one would do that. Exactly. You were saved from so much worse than a burning car. You were saved from an eternity in hell. And you were saved. from the impossibility of pleasing God. When God saved you, He didn't just save you so you can go to heaven. He saved you. Please listen, this is so important. He saved you so that you could live a life pleasing to Him. How about that one? That's marvelous. Think about that. Antoine, you have the ability to make the Creator of the universe happy with your life. That's marvelous. That's miraculous. It's a mercy of God. So, that's what being saved means. And you guys here tonight, you have the same background that Timothy had. If you've been raised in church, you have the same background Timothy had. What was Timothy's background? Who can tell me? Paul said it. That's very good. He had a godly mother, he had a godly grandmother. What was the result of that? What happened to him because of that? That from a child, he was able to what? Very good. What does the Bible say? Paul said that from a child, he what? Known the Scriptures. Oh, what word was that? Known, mind, thinking. Known the Scriptures, which were able to make him what? Wise unto salvation. That means that from a child, He was being taught what true salvation really is. That's you. If you drive 15 miles that way, I guarantee you if there was a group of 60 teenagers, most of them would have no idea what you know. But you have been raised from a child. You do know the Scriptures, and you have been given the ability to be wise unto salvation. Do not ever forget what salvation really is. Salvation, please listen, is not conforming to a certain way of life. That's not salvation. All that is is a person saying, you know what? These are nice people. I like this around here. I think I could live this way. You know what? I'll do it. And I'm going to believe so much that my humility and my desire to live like these people, I believe that so much that surely God will allow me to be in heaven. That's no different than any other religion. Our faith is not in conformity to a certain set of standards. Our faith is in Jesus Christ, who loved us and died for us. That doesn't mean He died as a favor. It means He died in our place. He rose again the third day. That means He can give salvation still. Praise the Lord for that. That's another message, which we'll preach that another time. That's what salvation is. It's faith in Christ. And the only reason a young person would put their faith in Christ is if they realize that I'm a sinner and I need a Savior. I don't need a better way of life. I need to be saved from my way of life. That's why I never tell people to invite Jesus to come live in their heart. I've never said that. Don't ever tell anyone to say that. Jesus doesn't want to live in anyone's wicked, deceitful heart. Amen? What Jesus does want to do is give us a new heart. That's what salvation is. So, the will of God is to be saved. Know what being saved is. And then, of course, be sanctified and serving Him. But, back to verse 2 of chapter 12 in Romans. Be not conformed to this world. Here's what that word conform means. Have you ever played with Play-Doh before? Okay, what do they sell with Play-Doh? I told you this was a shotgun message, right? We're dealing with Plato and theology, right? What do they sell with Plato? Molds, right? And you can push that Play-Doh through, and you can make spaghetti. My daughter Molly has all these things. You can make spaghetti. You can put it in to make little figures. What do you do? You have to put the Play-Doh in there, and then they have a little handle on that. You ever played with that? And you push the Play-Doh in there, and what does it do? It conforms that Play-Doh to that pre-made image. Now, if you're saved, you are to be conformed, but it's not to the world. Romans 8, verse 29, We have been predestinated. We get our word horizon from that word. That means that God and His goodness has seized as far as the work in our lives is, and here's what the end result will be, Jesus Christ. It doesn't say that you've been predestinated unto salvation. It says that you've been predestinated, conformed to the image of Christ. That image means there's a pre-made form that God's children will look like after God's work is complete. Now, praise the Lord, one day it'll be all complete, it'll be glorified. Amen? But right now there's a sanctification process in our life and he's making us more like Christ. But here's the problem. There's another outside pressure. And it's not the Holy Spirit pushing on you to make you more like Christ. It's the world trying to make you more like them. Because that just feels better. If they could just dilute the work of God in your life that would be better if you could so they try to put that pressure and they try to make and Paul says this don't do that don't allow that to happen but here's the good news alright and I'm almost done so just give me give me a few more minutes okay and by few I mean 20 that was just to see if you're listening okay here's what the apostle Paul knew I love this get this in your heart young people Paul knew that the transforming that can take place by the renewing of your mind, your mind being renewed by truth is more powerful than the world's pressure. He says don't be conformed to this world, but, that's contrast, rather be transformed by the renewing of your mind. The Holy Spirit will do His work and His life to conform you to the image of Christ. You do what you're supposed to do by being in your Bible, the water of the Word. Renew your mind. Wash it out. Learn. Study. Get truth in there. Why? That we may prove the good, acceptable, and perfect will of God. Now, I wish I had time to finish my message tonight. And I made myself a promise this week, okay, that if I didn't finish a message, I would not start it in the next one, and then start that one in the middle, okay? I've tried that at my church, it doesn't work very well, okay? So, I'm gonna trust the Lord that whatever was left, it wasn't, he didn't want said tonight, and we're gonna just keep with the schedule tomorrow as we talk about the mind of Christ. But here's, I wanna close with this. I wanna give you an example. of how important it is that your mind is right. And I want to give you an example. It's actually a pretty humorous one. It's one of my favorite accounts in the Old Testament. It's in 2 Kings. So if you take your Bible, please, turn to 2 Kings 6. 2 Kings 6. This is very important. I want you to try to follow every step of this, okay? Every step of this. 2 Kings chapter 6. And when you're all done, look up at me up here. By the way, while you're turning, how many seniors do we have here this year? Anybody a senior this year? 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8. Okay. For the gospel, I was going to raise his hand, but I didn't mean senior citizen. I just meant seniors. You know what? I feel bad. I just met the guy like two hours ago for the first time. Brother, I feel like we have that relationship. Yeah. At least we used to. Yeah. The good news is that you're leaving. No, I'm just kidding. No time for payback. All right. All right. Everyone got 2 Kings chapter 6? All right. Look up here, and I want to give you the background, okay? The king of Syria is fighting Israel. He makes these plans and says, hey, here's what we're going to do, guys. We're going to go camp out here. Elisha goes, tells the king of Israel, listen, don't go over there. The Syrians are there. Here's where you have to go. And it kind of frustrates the king of Syria. And so he thinks he has a spy, or as we would call it in today's political world, he thinks there's a leak. in his administration, okay? He thinks that there's a leak in his administration, and so he tries to find out. And finally, someone says, King, listen, it ain't that at all. Here's the problem. You have this man of God, Elisha, and that guy knows what you say in your bedroom. I mean, in your most private time, he knows what you're thinking. And so the king of Syria says, go get him. So they assemble, the Bible says, a host. Now I want you to notice what happens here. He says, Go spy where he is, verse 13, that I may send and fetch him. And it was told him, saying, He's in Dothan. Therefore sent he thither horses and chariots and a great host, and they came by night. Why do you think they came by night? Because they didn't want to be found out. See how smart I am? I mean, I'm just giving you such deep wisdom, all right? There's an army, chariots, horses, they come by night, and they compass the city. Somebody tell me what that means. What does it mean, they compass the city? They surrounded it. Very good. Next verse. And when the servant of the man of God was risen early and gone forth, behold... What does that word mean? What does behold mean? Please, not all at once. What does behold mean? Yes. Look! Here's the servant. He's in bed. He gets out of bed, stretches. Going to go put the coffee on. He's got to get some wood for the fire first. Because he does French press, by the way. Amen? He goes outside, he wipes the sleep from his eyes. He goes outside, opens the door, goes out. Elisa! Elisa! We are in trouble. We have a problem. Elisha, who knows what the king thinks in his bedroom, he knows what's going on. Elisha's no sweat. Elisha's fine. He's just making his coffee, his eggs. No bacon. At that time at least, amen? I'm glad for the book of Acts, amen? And here's what he says. He says, don't worry about it. Don't worry about it. What do you mean don't worry? Here's what Elisha says. It's in your Bible. There are more with us than there are with them. Now, his servant wasn't a math genius. But if they have enough people to surround our city, and we have two, that's a problem. But what does Elisha pray? Lord, and what does he say? Somebody say it nice and loud for me. Open His eyes. Why? That He may see. And what happened? Did the Lord open His eyes? What did He see? He realized that flesh and blood, the physical circumstance, the actual situation that He thought was such a big deal, the peer pressure, the situation, the fear of man, all that, it suddenly wasn't an issue anymore because what he see out there someone tell me it's in your Bible someone tell me what he see out there George you but you got it you gotta like do something special for this kid he knows I mean this kid knows his Bible man right amen alright look at me real quick is it your mommy or dad be honest who sees it no and by the way I didn't mean I meant Brother Hammett, by the way. I did not mean to call him by his first name. I just broke one of the camp rules. Sorry about that. What happened? Now, listen up here and we're done. Listen, this is very important. Did the army go away? No. Did Elisha pray the army would go away? No. Did anything physically change in that situation? No. Not one thing changed. The only thing that changed was that man's thinking. And the reason his thinking changed is because he saw spiritually when he didn't before. Now he was able to mind things spiritually and not just fleshly. And because of that, it affected his life. Can you imagine being surrounded And yet, going about your day like there's no problem. The story continues. Elisha has the men struck with blindness. He takes them out to another city. Actually ends up feeding them. It's a great story. And there's peace. You can read it later. But this is the thing I want you young people to understand. This is so pivotal. There are influences on your thinking. And one of the biggest influences on your thinking is your worldview. It's your perception of what reality is. It's your perception of what matters. It's your perception of your situation, your circumstance. And I want to tell you, you need to go to your Bible, and you need to study it, and you need to open your eyes so that you may see what reality really is. I'm telling you, it ain't what the world says it is. And I will tell you this, that you could be a young man or a young lady, and you may feel like you are surrounded by lost friends and lost family and the employees and the employers and the workforce around you, all that is around there, but it's not going to bother you because you're thinking right. And you're thinking right because you see it right. Now, I realize that I gave you a lot of information, but here's the foundation I need for you to get. We cannot make you choose right. You have to do that. It's nothing new. We showed you that before. Moses, Joshua, Elijah. Jesus Himself said, do something with what I say. The Apostle Paul beseeches us to not be conformed to the world. Make a decision to be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Why does your mind matter? Because the will of God matters in your life. The will of God matters. If you're lost today, if you've never been saved, if you've never been rescued, then you need to respond to the Lord tonight. You need to repent, turn to Him in faith, and be saved so that you now can live a life that's pleasing to Him. That'd be wonderful if you are saved. You need to make a decision tonight. How have I been living my life? Have I been viewing it like the servant, where it's all physical, and everything I do is based on the financial, or the physical, or the emotional? Is that how I'm making my decisions? Or am I being spiritually minded? And listen, do not allow the devil to make you think you're too young to be spiritually minded. Can you obey your parents? then you can be spiritually minded because that's a spiritual command. Do not allow the devil to make you think that. But you've got some decisions to make tonight. So tonight, I'm going to ask you to choose right. Be like the servant. Allow your eyes to be open that you might see spiritually. And that the rest of this week we can move forward to the glory of God. Let's pray. Father in heaven, thank you for this night. Father, I pray that you'd You could have used this message in some way to speak to those that are here tonight. Father, I pray, Lord, that you'd allow them to know in their hearts the love that their pastors, their youth pastors, their counselors have for them. For these adults to take time off work and sacrifice time to be here this week. Father, allow these young people to comprehend what that means. Father, I pray that You would bless the response now. I pray that it would be pleasing to You. If there's one here that's not saved, Father, I pray that You would convict them. Bring to their mind what needs to be brought to their mind. to allow them to see their true condition, to be honest with themselves and with you, have that good heart that turns to you in repentant faith. And Father, for those that are saved, I pray they would take a step up tonight. We ask these things in Jesus' name, Amen. Just do one thing tonight. That's it. Just one thing.