0:07 Praise God for what we've heard. Great to be with all of you once more. We've come and especially with the young people this these past few days, we've come to the last of our teaching sessions. I hope all of you have received 0:20 something that has not just stimulated your ears, but is going to bear fruit in your lives. And so I want to share a little bit of a warning as we meditate on all we've heard. We should not just be We should not just take 0:38 pleasure or joy in thinking we're stimulated because we received good words. If you turn with me to 1 Corinthians chapter 10, 1 Corinthians chapter 10, I'll just read a few of of these verses to start with. Um 0:57 Paul says to the Corinthians, keep in mind he's speaking to a believing church. He's not speaking to unbelievers. He says, "For I do not want you to be unaware brothers and sisters that our fathers were all under the cloud, all passed 1:08 through the sea. They were all baptized, and they all ate the same spiritual food. They all drank the same spiritual drink, for they were drinking from the spiritual rock which followed them, and the rock was Christ. Nevertheless, 1:25 verse 5, with most of them God was not well pleased. And so think about that. There are many of you sitting here, 40 to 50 of you young people. All been baptized, all eating the same spiritual food this 1:43 past weekend. All drinking from the rock that is Christ. Saying, "I'm with godly brothers and sisters. I'm with I'm being stimulated. I'm having fellowship." But yet it says that the Lord was not well pleased with some of them, with most of them in 2:01 this case. And this is a message to the believers in verse six. And the reason we know it's for us, it's a warning for us, is that verse six says, "Now these things happened as examples for us, for you and me, that we would not crave evil things as 2:15 they craved." And verse seven says, "Do not be idolaters as some of them were." What is idolatry? How would you define idolatry? Worshipping a different god, worshipping an idol as the world defines it. This is one of the most bizarre 2:34 definitions of idolatry you'll find in the Bible. "Do not be idolaters as some of them were." What is the proof of their idolatry? Think about what you came to this conference for. Did you come down to come here to eat, drink, play, have a good time? 2:53 This is the definition of idolatry over here. "As it is written, the people sat down to eat, drink, and stood up to play." Idolatry. How's that idolatry? Cuz their minds were set on those things. Their minds were set on 3:12 satisfying their cravings. They came here to have a good time, to Yes, their minds were stimulated by messages they heard, but their minds were set on earthly things, on satisfying their senses, on eating, on scrolling their phones, 3:27 on drinking, on playing games. That is how Paul defined idolatry to the Corinthians. And it's a great warning to us that we can eat and drink the same food, we can drink from the rock that is Christ, we can be baptized even, so to speak, 3:44 but the Lord may not be well pleased. We've been through the course of this conference, we've been meditating on the book of Song of Solomon and it's a great progression in the book of Song of Solomon where it starts in Song of Solomon 3:58 chapter 1 where the bride talks about herself as ugly and swarthy do not look at me it says in Song of Solomon chapter 1 and then a few chapters later she says I'm ugly I'm swarthy that's a picture of us when we first come to Christ fully 4:17 aware of our own sin a few chapters later clothed in the righteousness of the bridegroom the the groom says no in fact you are all together lovely not only are you all together lovely I don't see any blemish in you cuz my 4:35 righteousness is in you and then a couple verses later the Lord says just one glance at from you and my heart beats faster that's exciting word but when we even if we just turn to the Lord like we heard the happy face he's pleased even if we 4:54 just turn to the Lord he's excited his heart beats faster when we turn to him but must we stop there is it sufficient for us to be content that the Lord smiles on us and that his heart beats faster when we turn to him the question we must ask ourselves if we 5:14 are to be this true bride and as you progress from there to the rest of Song of Solomon chapter 6 is titled the mutual delight the mutual delight between groom and and that's what we want to have is that relationship with 5:27 the groom where we are mutually delighted with each other the father's love meditating on the many of us love to meditate on the father's love and that's absolutely foundation of what we must meditate on and never lose sight of and be secure in 5:42 but we can deceive ourselves that we are meditating on the father's love for us if it does not evoke in us a desire to love him and to be content with him and to be consumed only with him. And the proof of loving him is obeying 5:58 his commandments. We love because he first loved us, but we must love because he first loved us. Not just he first loved us. He loved me. He loved me. He loved me. And that must be our response and that's what you see in the rest of 6:09 Song of Solomon. And we've heard this analogy before, the beautiful picture of a bride and a groom, but imagine if the bride spent a few hours a day with her bridegroom and then had this affair on the side. He's like, all right, I'm going to just 6:26 hang a little bit. I got to just go down the road. There's a hotel I need to check in. I need to visit somebody. And in a way this is how we treat God. We come back to him and we say Lord, I'm so glad you love me. At the 6:44 At my glance, you're pleased and all of that is true. But it does not transform in us a desire to be completely with him 24/7. Because we may be having an affair with the world. This is what James says in James chapter 7:02 4. James chapter 4 verse 4 says You adulteresses. Strong word. Spiritual adultery. Would you call yourself an adulterer? Would you When you examine your life, you may be saved, but when you examine 7:21 your life over the course of the day, do you see yourself being consumed and set on the things of this world? There are things that are fine moderation. Games, shows, play playing, eating, drinking, all of this stuff. It's interesting when you 7:36 think about 1 Corinthians 10. The last verse of that chapter says Now, whatever you do, eat, drink, or play, do it all for the glory of God. So there is a way to do it. 1 Corinthians 10:31. The same passage I read earlier. There 7:47 is a way to glorify God in those things, but your mind is not set on those things. You're not consumed by that. James 4:4 says, "You you adulteresses, do you not know that friendship with the world is hostility toward God? 8:02 There- therefore, whoever wishes to be a friend to of the world makes himself an enemy of God." It's a strong statement. Or do you think, verse 5, that the scripture speaks to to no purpose? He jealously desires. This is a picture of 8:17 the bridegroom jealously desiring for you to come back, eager for you to turn back to him. But even more eager for you to stay constantly in his presence. And not have your mind distracted by the things of this world. Turn with me to Philippians chapter 3. 8:43 It's another strong passage that we see here on what it means to be an enemy of the cross of Christ. This is what it says in Philippians 3:18. Philippians 3:18 says, "For many walk of whom I have often told you and now tell you even weeping that they are 9:03 enemies of the cross of Christ." Could that be us? Enemies of the cross of Christ? Can't be. We've been saved by the cross of Christ. What does it mean to be an enemy of the cross of Christ? Whose end is destruction. The definition of an enemy of the cross 9:15 of Christ in that moment, of course, when we repent, the Lord restores us and we are no longer enemies, but in that moment, if my God is my appetite, if my glory is in my shame, if my mind is set on earthly things, verse 19 verse 9:31 19, the ones who set their minds on earthly things, the ones who set their mind on satisfying their senses. Enemies of the cross of Christ. It's a great warning to all of us. First John chapter 2. First John chapter 2 verse 15 says, "Do 10:02 not love the world not the things of this world and if anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him." We've talked about the Father's love. How do I know I am reflecting the Father's love back to him? I'm not having an affair with the world. 10:21 If I love the things of this world and the things of this world consume me and I have a great love for them, then the Father loves me, but the love of the Father in that moment is not in me. It's what the Bible says. I must believe 10:35 it. Verse 16, "For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the boastful pride of life is not from the Father, but is from the world." These are the things that take us away from loving God and being content with 10:52 him. The lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the boastful pride of life. So, I just want to spend a few minutes talking about each of these and what what they may mean to each of you. The lust of the flesh. I wanted you to show you an example from 11:11 the story of Esau and Jacob. So, if you turn with me to Genesis chapter 25. It's a very innocuous, innocent story that you can say, "Wow, well, God was really harsh [clears throat] on Esau. He 11:30 lost his birthright because of this." But let's just look at the story briefly. It's just a few verses here at the end of Exodus chapter 25. Sorry, Genesis chapter 25. Genesis chapter 25 verse 29. It says, "When Jacob had 11:48 cooked stew, Esau came in from the field and he was famished." So, pay attention to that for a second. He was famished. The state of mind he was in. And Esau said to Jacob, "Please let me have a swallow of this red stuff there because 12:00 I'm famished." And Jacob said, "First, sell me your birthright." And we read on to the rest of the story uh to the last verse of the chapter it says, verse 34, "Jacob gave him the bread and he ate and drank and thus Esau despised his birthright." 12:19 And it says in Hebrews 12 about Esau that because he despised his birthright and because he sold his birthright, God calls him an immoral person. A godless immoral person. What a strange statement to say. He didn't commit adultery with anybody. 12:39 He was called a godless immoral person just because one day he was tired and he sold his birthright. And there's a great warning there for all of us. All of us, brothers and sisters, as we've been invited to be the bride to our bridegroom, sons and 12:58 daughters of the Most High, we have been given a birthright. We have been given a princely duty. We have been given a royal royal robes, like the prodigal son returning and the father putting royal robes and a ring on his finger and sandals on his 13:16 feet. We've been given royal duties. That's our birthright. And yet what does Esau do in that moment? He was famished. He had the excuse like, "Oh, I was tired, man. I was having a rough day. You don't know the day. You don't know 13:32 the situation I was going through. I was having a rough day." despised his birthright. Brothers and sisters, I want to warn you the devil will come for you when you're famished. Your flesh will come for you when you're tired. 13:50 Late at night, remember your birthright late at night. The spiritual birthright that the Lord has given you. The royal robes that he's given you. Do not trade the fatted calf that he has prepared for you for the 14:08 pig's food in that moment. What do I mean by that? Do not Do not choose to satisfy your senses. This was Esau. Famished, tired. Let me just satisfy my senses. Yes, I will give up my royal birthright. Just for tonight, I'll give up my royal 14:26 birthright. I can ask for forgiveness tomorrow, but I'm going to give up my royal birthright. And I want to satisfy my senses. I'm going to satisfy my cravings. This is the lust of the flesh. And this is the danger. Think about 14:44 when you lie in bed on your pillow and you're tired and you grab your phone. What is it that you go for? What are the apps you go for? What are the websites you go for on your laptop? Could be sinful. Could be lustful. 15:02 Could be even seemingly harmless. Not overtly sinful. But just doom scrolling a social media app or shopping for something or just wasting time mindlessly. The Lord is saying, "Don't sell your birthright for that, 15:21 too." I've got a royal duty for you. The psalmist knew this in Psalms 119, it says the psalmist says David said, "I anticipate the night watches." I know the devil and my flesh is coming for me in the night. I anticipate the 15:37 night watches and therefore I meditate on your word. I think it's verse 148 of that chapter. "I anticipate the night watches and I know I need to put the armor of God on and I want to meditate on your word." This is is not sufficient for us to just 15:55 say no to the stew, we must say yes to the birthright of what the Lord has for us. Anticipate the night watches, brothers and sisters. Meditate on the word of the Lord. Keep your phone out of arm's reach. Make yourself have to get up. We were 16:12 talking about this is with some of the young brothers at uh breakfast today. Make yourself have to get up to go reach for it. Do everything possible to say, "Lord, I'm going to store up your word during the day so that I can meditate on it 16:25 during the night. I'm going to listen to you. You awaken me in the morning." Isaiah 50:4 to listen to you as a disciple. You've not awaken me for me to do my own will. You've awaken me to listen to you as a disciple so that I can hear your 16:40 word so that I can meditate on it and when the night comes and when the when I'm famished and when I'm tired and I want to satisfy my own senses, my pleasures, my eyes, my body, my hands, I'm going to turn to you. That was our memory verse for this 16:58 this week. 1 Corinthians 6:19 and 20. Do you not know verse 19 says, "Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit?" Your body is the church of God so to speak. Your body is God's residence. Your body is a place of worship. 17:19 And verse 20 says, "For you have been bought with a price price. Therefore, glorify God in your body." That's what we heard earlier as well. The Lord has paid an immense price of us worth billions and billions of dollars. 17:32 But, it's not sufficient for me to just thank God that he has paid this price for me. I have a response. I must glorify him in my body. For those of you been enjoying watching the World Cup, one of the favorite players of many 17:48 people is this Argentinian player named Leo Messi. I was reading a few days ago that his left leg is insured for 900 million dollars. His left leg is insured for 900 million dollars. It's absolutely insane. Think about that. 18:07 That's how much the world values this man's left leg. Brothers and sisters, the Lord has bought has paid a price for your not just your left leg, your left eye, your right eye, your tongue, your ears for billions of dollars. He's 18:26 insured it and bought it for billions of dollars. Those are his. They belong to him. They don't belong to you. The next time you're tempted to use your eyes carelessly or to use your ears carelessly to listen to gossip or 18:41 to use your tongue carelessly to say an unkind word or to proliferate gossip, remember, it's not your tongue. It's a billion-dollar tongue that the Lord has paid for it. It belongs to him. He owns it. He owns your eyes. 19:00 He owns your ears. He owns your hands. It's the temple of God. This is the royal calling. And if we've sinned and fallen, let's not be condemned, let's not be discouraged, let's run back. The prodigal son story, the beautiful thing about the prodigal 19:18 son story is it's not a one-time story. If you've sinned and you you are convicted even as you're hearing me speak, run back to the Lord. And you know what the Lord does when you run back and you give up the pig's food, he comes running 19:32 out again to embrace you. He comes running out again to put on his cloak of righteousness on you, to put on a ring once more, to equip you again, to celebrate you again, to cut another fatted calf for you. And he says, "Go and sin no more. I do not condemn 19:49 you. Go and sin no more." That's what Jesus said to the woman caught in adultery. But how much better to just continuously stay in his presence rather than leave his presence? That's what the Lord That's how we must respond 20:03 to the bridegroom's love. The lust of the eyes. One chapter over from 1 Corinthians 6, 1 Corinthians 7. In the living, it talks about this verse from 1 John 2:16, uh which talks about the lust of eyes. It says, "Craving 20:23 lust of the flesh, craving craving for physical pleasure, lust of the eyes, craving for everything we see." Think of that as a definition for the lust of the eyes, craving for everything we see. We see something on a website that appeals to us. 20:39 We see that new car that's come out, appeals to us. Serving Prime Day deals, that new bag, those new shoes, new clothes, everything we see, we got to have it. Oh, my friend has it. My buddy has it. He's a good brother in 20:53 Christ and he has it, he allows it, so I must have it, too. So, I it's not sinful for me to have it. 1 Corinthians 7 verse 1 Corinthians chapter 7 verse 29. For this I say, brethren, the time has 21:14 been shortened. That means that we're in the end times. The time has been shortened. The time of our lives, the time for Jesus' return is sooner than we think. So that from now on, those who have wives should be as though they did 21:27 had none. Those who weep as though they did not weep. Here's the part I want want you to see. Those who rejoice as though they did not rejoice. And those who buy as though they did not possess. Think about when you buy things for 21:39 yourselves. Do they possess you? Do you feel like they're possessions? Are they up to the Lord? Do you feel like your lust of your eyes have taken over when you your finances, your bank account is that something that's yours or it's 21:54 it's surrendered to the Lord? And those who use the world as though they did not make full use of it. Do you have a desire to make the full use of the world? The full use of your money, the full use of your resources for things things on your bucket list. 22:11 Oh, I got to travel to that place. It's on my bucket list to get to that place. And Paul's challenge to us is, no, don't make full use of the world. The time is shortened. Buy but don't possess. Use the world but don't make full use of 22:27 it because the time has been shortened. Rather, what is what should be your bucket list? That I will be content with the Lord. That I will be pleasing to the Lord. That I will grow in the likeness of Jesus Christ. That's the only thing I 22:39 want on my bucket list. Everything else is secondary. I don't want to live this life thinking I want to make the full use of this world. That's the lust of the eyes. Hebrews chapter 13 verse 5 says, Make sure that your character is free 23:04 from the love of money. Being content, that's the theme of our of our conference. Being content with with God, being content with what you have. For he himself has said, it's interesting to put these two verses together that 23:22 that all this second part of this verse with this, I will never desert you nor will I have ever forsake you. He has said, I will never desert you. He has said, you are my bride. I will never leave you. I will never have an affair with someone else. I will 23:37 never desert you nor will I ever forsake you. So, what does that mean when I look at the first part of the verse which says, be content with what I have. What is it that I have? I have someone who will never leave me nor forsake me. That's what I have. 23:54 That's why I don't need to be I don't need to have an affair with the money of this world. I don't need to love money because I can be content with what I have. I have the Lord himself. The Lord himself is what I have and he 24:07 has promised never to desert me not to forsake me. I want to be content with that. I want to be content with the Lord himself. That's what I have. I'm in his presence. I want to be content with that. I have the word of the Lord that he's 24:24 speaking to me every day. I have him communing with me. I have intimacy with him. I have a love letter from him. I'm hearing from him every every day. I want to be content with that. I want to you to show you a picture. We 24:37 know that the the ones in the wilderness and we talked about in 1 Corinthians 10, they had a complaining attitude. They what we they Uh Paul says that they were idolaters. I want to show you a picture of when they get to Canaan. 24:53 The The Lord sustained them through the wilderness with with manna from heaven. It's an interesting thing that happens when they get to uh the edge of the promised land and they haven't even conquered all the giants. But, it's interesting to see a picture 25:08 of what happened here in Joshua chapter 5. It says in Joshua chapter 5 verses 11, This is just as they're crossing into the promised land. Again, have not fully occupied the promised land, not conquered all of the giants. On the day after the Passover, 25:27 on that very day they ate some of the produce of the land, unleavened cakes, and parched grain. And verse 12, a great warning and sort of a sad note here. The manna ceased on the day that they had eaten some of the produce of the land. 25:42 And what the Lord So, the rest of the verse says, "So, the sons of Israel no longer had manna, but they ate some of the yield of the land." And the Lord spoke to me from that to say, "May it never be that because I've gotten content 25:59 with what the world has to offer, with the produce of the world, that I stop receiving the manna from heaven." And in this case it stopped. This is the old covenant, but in the new covenant we can repent. We can repent for being 26:15 satisfied with the produce of land, come back and say, "Lord, I want your manna." It might seem boring to the earthly senses, but I know it's going to satisfy my spiritual senses. It might seem repetitive and oh, I've heard 26:27 this word before. I don't need to hear it again. To my earthly senses, but it is the word I need to hear for my spiritual senses. I don't want the manna to ever stop. I don't need to have the variety of the produce of what this world has to offer. 26:45 I want to seek for that constant supply of manna every day. And it says about the manna that if you stored it up for the day and you stored it up for the next day, it was stale. You couldn't use yesterday's manna for tomorrow. 27:03 You can't use yesterday's word from God for tomorrow. You can't use yesterday's outpouring of the Holy Spirit for tomorrow. You can't store up the filling of the Holy Spirit from yesterday and say it's going to carry me into 27:14 tomorrow. Or it's going to carry me into today. I need to refuel with the Holy Spirit today. I need that fresh manna from God today. Every single day. And I cannot satisfy myself with the produce of the land, otherwise the manna 27:27 will stop. It's either or. Can't have it both. I'll show you one other verse that I shared with the sisters during the Q&A session, Psalms chapter 17. Psalm 17 Psalm 17 verse 28:01 14 talks about men, brothers and sisters, from your hand, O Lord, men of the world, so to speak, whose portion in is in this life. They're content with this portion being in this life. Whose belly you fill. It's not the devil who's filling them, 28:19 it's God. God is filling them. They're praying for their portion to be filled. And the Lord is answering their prayer. Prayer, you fill them with your treasure. You fill them with treasure. You fill them with something that 28:33 satisfies them here in this life and with treasure in this life. They are satisfied with children. Is this a bad thing to be satisfied with children, to have a desire to get married and to have children? And to be satisfied with that, is that a 28:45 bad thing? And leave their abundance, leave their retirement. Store up for retirement for their children. That's the next part. They are leave their abundance for their children. The last part of verse 14. Are these bad things? These seem like 29:01 very, very good things. This is what the world tells you to do. It's what many Christians pray for. To be prosperous, to have children, to save up for their children. And verse 13 calls such people wicked people. It's fascinating to see what the Lord 29:18 how the Lord defines these ones who are just seeking for a portion in this lifetime. And yet you look at David's response. As for me, verse 15. I shall behold your face in righteousness every day. I shall behold your face in righteousness, and I will 29:35 be satisfied. I will be content. That's the theme of our conference. I will be satisfied and content with your likeness when I awake. That must be what I am pursuing. Not a portion in this lifetime. Not to get married. Those are secondary 29:53 things. Seek the kingdom of the Lord first and all these other things will be will follow. Not money, not even money with a good intention to save up for my children. But I want to be satisfied every morning when I awake, I want to see a little bit 30:07 more of the likeness of Jesus. This is what David was saying, and he wasn't even the new covenant. When I awake, I want to see your likeness. When I wake up, I want to see a little bit more of your likeness in me. That must be what That must be the only 30:22 thing that satisfies me. Not the abundance of this world. Not finding the right life partner for me. Not having children and providing for them. Those are secondary. The Lord will provide them, too. The Lord will provide them, too, but 30:40 what makes me satisfied and content, what brings me contentment must be seeing your likeness. The last part of 1 John chapter 2 verse 15 and 16 talks about the pride of life. So, I just want to take a few minutes talking about the pride of life. 30:58 And it's interesting when you see the temptations of Jesus. There's an interesting parallel between the lust of the eyes, the lust of the flesh, and the pride of life. Jesus being tempted to satisfy his senses. He was hungry. Like Esau Like Esau, 31:10 compare Esau with Jesus. Hungry. Would you want to give up your birthright? Do you want to give up your birthright and satisfy your senses? And he says, "Man shall not live by bread alone. I'm going to live by mana. I'm not going to live by produce of this 31:23 world." That's what Jesus said. Same thing, lust of the eyes. I'll give you all of these kingdoms here if you bow down to me. Jesus said, "No." That's the lust of the eyes. Pride of life. Make a name for yourself. Jump off of 31:37 this temple and see how the angels will take care of you. Make a name for yourself and show yourself that you're the son of God and show off to people with this miracle. No. I will not succumb to the pride of life. I will not seek honor for myself. 31:51 And young people, I want to warn you of this. I've seen many young people zealous, seemingly zealous, appearing to be zealous, springing up too early. We read this in the parable of the sower, Matthew chapter 13, about a certain type of seed that falls 32:09 on rocky soil. And it springs up immediately. Is it a good thing to spring up immediately? Sounds like a good thing. And some of you, as you examine yourselves, you may deceive the other young people, you may fool yourselves, you may even fool the 32:21 others. Because you hear a word here and you spring up immediately. You get excited and you share it with others and you want to spread the word to others. You spring up immediately. And the explanation from that parable of the 32:31 sower is these are ones who receive the word with joy. Is that a bad thing? To receive the word with joy? But they had no firm root in themselves. Young brothers and young sisters, do not measure your spiritual growth by receiving the words here you hear 32:50 today by with joy. That's not spiritual growth. That is not spiritual growth. To receive the words you hear here with joy is meaningless. It says Herod loved to listen to John the Baptist. He received those words with joy. It didn't bring 33:01 about repentance in him. It didn't bring about humility in him. Jesus said, "Come to me and learn humility and gentleness." Matthew 11:28-29. In contrast, what is the seed that bears fruit? Well, we heard earlier this conference, 33:18 John 12:24 and 25. Unless a grain of wheat falls into the ground, does not spring up immediately, does not just receive the word with joy and spring up immediately, but falls into the ground and dies. That must be the eager 33:33 desire of each of you, young brothers and sisters, not to have a reputation for zeal, not even to have some self-fulfillment out of the zeal of what you've heard, but to fall into the ground and die. To die to yourself, to die to your will, 33:48 and say, "I'm going to fall to into the ground and die." Verse 25 says, verse 24, the rest of verse 24 says, "Unless a grain of wheat falls into the ground and dies, it remains alone." It's a good promise for those of you 34:01 looking to find a spouse. You will remain alone unless you fall into the ground and die. Fall into the ground and die, and then the Lord will bring like-minded fellowship to you. Can do something with a humble. And the last part of those words says, "And it 34:20 bears much fruit." You want to be fruitful? Again, the parable of the sower. What is the proof of fruitfulness? 30-fold, 60-fold, 100-fold. Falling into the ground and dying. There's much hope for young people, but let me show you 34:37 why there will be hope or how there will be hope. Lamentations chapter 3. It's something I've shared a lot often with the youth in our church. Lamentations chapter 3. This is a message of falling into the ground and dying for 34:53 every young person. Don't be eager to speak. Lamentations chapter 3. Don't be eager to rush into a decision. Lamentations chapter 3 verse 25. 35:12 The Lord is good to those who wait for him. Learn patience by just waiting on the Lord to the person who seeks him. It is good for that person to wait silently. How many of you seen silence as a good thing? Not eagerness to talk, not eagerness to 35:30 show to share what the Lord spoke to you from the retreat, but silence in waiting on the Lord. And then you'll receive the salvation of the Lord. It is good for young men and young women that they should bear the yoke in their 35:44 youth. Verse 27. And verse 28. How does a young man or young woman bear the yoke in the youth? Let him sit alone and be silent since God has loaded laid it on him. If you have a If you have time for you to be alone, if you have a period of 36:02 time to be alone, cherish it because the Lord is putting a yoke on you and let it and if you have a time to be silent, cherish being silent because that's the Lord's yoke for you in your youth. And verse 29. Let him put his or her mouth in the dust 36:17 and perhaps there will be hope. Young brothers and young sisters, if there's to be hope for you, put your face in the dust. Go into the ground and die. Don't be eager to speak. Don't be eager to have a ministry in the church. Don't have a zeal 36:33 for ministry in the church or reputation for being a leader among the young people or one who can speak great truths. The Bible says in Revelation chapter 3, be zealous to repent. That's the only thing I want to be zealous for in this 36:46 church is zealous to repent. And if I'm zealous to repent, the Lord says he knocks on my door and then he comes in and if I open the door, he will have a feast with me. And if I overcome and keep overcoming, he'll grant me to sit on his throne one 37:01 day. That's the only zeal we need. It's not a zeal to share great truths. It's not a zeal to speak. It's not a zeal for ministry in the church. It's not a zeal to be known for something. It's not a zeal to put, like we heard, 37:14 put our initial around what we shared and to be known for what we shared and what we testified. Think about that as you prepare to testify tonight. Be zealous to repent. Be one that is faithful to the just the two minutes 37:28 you're going to share. That's a sign of pride. If you go over two minutes, it's usually a sign that you have more that you want to share, that you're not eager to take the challenge to say, "I need to be silent. I need to put my 37:39 face in the dust. I need to be faithful to the little and I just need to share my two cent to testimony and let that bless others. I don't need to share more than that." This is the message of humility. Galatians 2:20 says, "I'm crucified with 37:58 Christ and it's Christ who lives in me." Colossians 3:3 also says the same thing. Colossians 3:1-3, beautiful passage. Meditate on Colossians 3:1-3. Verse 2 says, "Set your mind on things above, not on things of this earth." Again, 38:10 don't don't be like the Israelites who committed idolatry by setting their minds on earthy things, the ones who are enemies to the cross of Christ, like Philippians 3 said, "But set your minds on things above." And then the next verse says, because 38:24 you have died, because you've gone into the earth and died, because you're like a grain of wheat that's gone into the ground and died, therefore you are hidden with Christ. There's no initial, there's no initial like we are that you can put around your 38:36 Christian life. You are hidden with Christ, it's only Christ that lives. Every word we hear here, Christ. Not me speaking. Not Wen Hai speaking. Not Santo speaking, Christ speaking. Every word you hear, you listening, Christ 38:51 hears, Christ listening in you. As you go out and witness, Christ alone living in through you. We talked in the beginning about the ones whom it's it was said God they were not pleasing to God. They heard the word, they drank from the 39:10 same spiritual rock, but they were not pleasing to God. Because they were craving evil things from this world. Let's start Let's look briefly at one person who was pleasing to God. From Hebrews chapter 11. This is the hall of faith. 39:27 Hebrews chapter 11. Talks about Enoch in verse five. By faith Enoch was taken up so that he would not see death. And as he was not found because God took him up, for he obtained the witness that 39:46 before being taken up, he was pleasing to God. What was the sign that he was pleasing to God? I love this phrase. He was not found. He was not found. Colossians 3:23. He was hidden. This is the secret to being pleasing to 40:05 God. When people see you, when they interact with you, I They see your good works and they give glory to your father. They won't say like a a great message, what a great young brother. May it be said that Sunil was not found, 40:22 but he was pleading to God. God was found, but he was not found. This is the message of humility that every young person must hear. The grain of wheat can be I I see the fruit coming out, but I never saw I didn't see the grain of wheat. 40:36 It went in the ground and died. I can't find it. I see the fruit of Christ. I see the fruit of the Holy Spirit. Can't see the grain of wheat. It's gone in the ground and died. It's hidden. What a beautiful testimony of Enoch. 40:52 This is we must have a response to how the Lord loves us with the love of a father. Today is Father's Day. Every day of our life must be our heavenly Father's Day. Today is earthly Father's Day. Think of every day of our 41:09 life being our heavenly Father's Day. Second Corinthians chapter 6 verse 18 talks about a promise that we have of us God of of God being our father. Second Corinthians 6:18 says, "I will be a father to you, and you shall be my sons 41:21 and daughters." What a great promise. What a great promise that God is our father. But that's one side of the coin. Well, how do I respond? Am I like that child that's caught up with just the toys that the father is to provide? 41:34 Then very next verse, and unfortunately, perhaps because of the influence of the devil, the chapter gets cut off here. Always read the next verse of a chapter when you hear or see an end of the chapter to see what the what the context is. 41:48 Second Corinthians 7:1 Therefore, since I am a since I have the privilege of calling God my father every day saying this is heavenly Father's Day, I must have a response. I have this promise that he is my father. Therefore, having this 42:02 promise, let me let us cleanse ourselves from defilement of flesh and spirit perfecting holiness in the fear of God. This is what the Lord wants to do with this. And as we constantly offer ourselves to God, it says in Ephesians 5 that we are to be 42:18 imitators at the beginning of Ephesians 5 talks about us being imitators of God. And what are we called to imitate? God, who laid down his life for us. And when he laid down his life for us, it was pleasing. Again, there's that word 42:30 pleasing. Ephesians 5:2, it was pleasing to God to his father as a fragrant aroma. The Lord wants us to have this fragrant aroma that is pleasing to him as we say no to the ways of the world and we come back to him and we say yes to the 42:47 to to him. I'll just share one thing has been on my heart about as the Lord may put us in different situations on this thought of being an aroma of Christ. 2 Corinthians chapter 2, if you turn with me. It's the one passage which 43:05 talks about being a fragrance of Christ wherever we go. 2 Corinthians chapter 2, verse 15 says, "We are a fragrance of Christ among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing. To one an aroma of death to death, which means one who 43:21 is not inclined to hear about the gospel, we are an aroma of death. But to others, we are a fragrance. We we are to those who are being saved and among those who are perishing. To the one an aroma from death to death to 43:33 to to another an aroma from life to life." But what is the context of this passage of how we are a fragrance? If you look a few verses earlier, in verse 12, he talks about Paul. He says, "Now when I came to Troas for the gospel of Christ, and it would when 43:51 a door was opened for me in the Lord, I had no rest for my spirit, not finding Titus my brother." Think about this as a situation you're in. You may be in a Troas saying, "I'm not having fellowship over here. I'm kind of 44:02 alone in this place by myself. I'm eager. I want to be in Loveland, Colorado fellowshipping with the saints in RLCF. I want to be in NCCF with San Jose fellowship, but the Lord has me here. I'm eager to get away from here. I was not finding a brother 44:15 to fellowship with in in Troas. But taking my leave of them, verse 13, I went on to Macedonia. But here's the beautiful verse which Paul says, "But thanks be to God who always leads us in triumph in Christ and manifests the sweet aroma of the 44:31 knowledge of him in every place." Think about that for a second. Praise be to God who leads me victoriously. Not when I get to Loveland Colorado, not when I get to this when when I get past the situation or when I get past 44:47 the stage of life, then I'll be able to focus on intimacy with the Lord. When I'm in Troas and I don't have any fellowship, the Lord will lead me victoriously. When I get to Macedonia and I have the fellowship of the brothers and sisters, the Lord will lead 45:01 me victoriously. So young brothers, young sisters, I've talked to many of you over this over this conference and some of you are challenged with the season in life you're in. Some of you dealing with immigration situations. Some of you dealing with 45:16 situations where you don't have fellowship around you. Some of them Some of you seeking to get past your single life and find your marriage partner. Some of you eager to move from Troas to Macedonia. And the Lord is saying, "I want to lead 45:31 you in victory and to manifest the sweet fragrance of Christ wherever you are, whichever season of life you're in. Whether in Troas, whether in Macedonia, don't don't say when I get past this season, then I can be a fragrance of 45:44 Christ. When I get into the fellowship that I'm seeking for, then I can be a fragrance of Christ." No, in Troas He wants you to be a fragrance of Christ. And what does it mean to be a fragrance of Christ? The Lord is working out His will in you. He is 45:56 You're saying no to the world. You're You're being content with His presence, but out of that comes a fragrance, which others can smell. And they see the life of Christ in you and they're attracted to this. And the proof of it, I don't have time to turn 46:09 there, but in Acts chapter 16, if you read Acts chapter 16 and then you compare it with this passage, it actually talks about the story of how Paul went from Troas to Macedonia. And there's something fascinating that happens there that if you're not 46:24 careful, you'll completely miss it. The entire book of Acts as it talks about Paul's journey, it talks about they did this, they did this. Paul and Silas, Paul and Paul and Barnabas, they did this, they did this, they did this. 46:36 And then they come to Troas in Acts chapter 16, and all of a sudden, it starts changing to and then we did this. And then we went here. And then when we went to Philippi and went to the house of Lydia later on in the chapter, Acts chapter 16. 46:53 What happened in Troas? They met a brother named Luke in Troas. Luke is the one who wrote the book of Acts and wrote wrote the book of Luke. In that place where Paul was saying, "I wanted to get out of here. I didn't find Titus. I wanted fellowship. I 47:12 wanted to be in RLCF. I wanted to be with the New Covenant Church." And the Lord said, "No. Praise God. The God has said, you need to be a fragrance, a sweet aroma of me here. And you need to be led in triumph here in Troas." And as a result, 47:30 it's not even mentioned because Luke was such a humble brother, but just between that journey from Troas to Macedonia, it changes from they to we, which tells me that Luke was picked up in Troas. And just imagine, we wouldn't have the 47:40 Gospel of Luke. We wouldn't have the prodigal son story, which I just quoted earlier, if it weren't for Paul saying, "I am going to have the fragrance of Christ in the place that I don't want to be." This is the life that the Lord has called us to 47:58 live. Let me end with uh going back to Song of Solomon chapter 4. Since we started this retreat with Song of Solomon, it'd be good for us to end there. In our response, not just what the groom says to us that we're all together 48:18 lovely. But our response in Song of Solomon chapter 4 verse 60, it says Song of Solomon 4:16 says, "Awake oh north wind and come wind of the south. The north wind is a picture of a cold wind. 48:37 A cold wind of a trial in your life. A season that you don't want to go through. Perhaps a season of trials. And the south wind is is a picture of a warm wind. Yes, I have fellowship. I warmth. I'm having a good day. And 48:56 have this picture of the bride responding the bridegroom. Whether it's north wind of cold trial or whether it's south wind of warmth. Come and either wind, come into my garden and breathe out fragrance. Let the spices be watered abroad. May my 49:11 beloved come into his garden and eat its choice fruit. This must be the bride's response. Whether it's a cold wind, whether it's a warm wind, whether it's trials, whether it's Macedonia, whichever place, whichever season you 49:26 have for me in life, whether it's a wilderness, whether it's a promised land, whether it's I want Lord, I want there to be a fragrance that comes through my garden. And I want the choicest fruits. I want the fruit that is born out of the grain of wheat 49:44 that's fallen into the ground and died. I want that fruit to be for my beloved, for my groom to enjoy. I want that fruit only for him. Not to have my name for it. May this be true in our lives. So, I pray as we respond, as we've heard these 50:01 words from our retreat, that the Lord will convict our hearts. May we be May we be secure and assured of the Lord's love for us as a groom. And if we've run away from that, and if we've been adulterous, even just last night if 50:21 we've been adulterous with the with the things of this world, with the lust of the eyes, with the lust of the flesh, with the pride of life, run back and repent, knowing that he will run the moment he sees the first sign of repentance, he will come and 50:34 embrace us. He will cut another fat fatted calf for us. He'll put a ring on our finger a ring on our finger again. He will clothe us with righteousness once more. But once we come back, stay in his presence, where there's 50:48 fullness of joy. Psalm 16:11. Stay in his presence. Stay Be content to be with the one who has promised never to leave you nor to forsake you. And then everything you do, whether it's eating, playing, drinking, whatever else 51:05 you do, what else do How you spend your money, how you spend your time on your phone, even if you're on social media, even if you're playing a video game, even if you're hanging out, even if you're playing at the park later today, 51:16 because you're tuned into God, because you're submitted to God, because that's what your mind is set on, it will be for the glory of God. Amen.
