Well, I guess this is the last time I'll be back here since I'm an egghead. You know, I've never seen myself on the big screen. Boy. How do I look? Okay.

I'll tell my mother. I was on the big screen, Mom. She'll say, no way. Now, if you look at your bulletin here, you'll see that my message is maintaining marital foundations in Babylon. Do you see that?

Well, that's not going to be the message. So that was the agreed upon message. And I said to Scott Brown, I said, Scott, please, I don't want to talk to the older people. They're old. And so I want to speak to the young people, so we got rid of that.

So if you're over 55, you are welcome to go out, have a cup of tea or coffee, go over to the cafeteria. I am strictly here for people under 30. Okay, let's just get that straight Now would you take your Bibles and open to the book of Daniel? The book of Daniel Chapter 1 We'll just look at verse 8 We'll pick up some of these verses as we go through the text. But Daniel said in his heart that he would not defile himself with the king's choice food or with the wine which he drank.

So he sought permission from the commander of the officials that he might not defile himself. If you look on the screen, I've entitled this Daniel Living in Babylon, in Babylon, but not of Babylon. Our story begins in Jerusalem, the city of David, the city of God. My dear friends, this is the promised land. God promised this to His people.

Now at the same time, the king at that time was King Jehoiakim, and he was a bad king. He was like a lot of other bad kings disobedient to the law of God and as a result as we will see with all these kings there are destructive consequences to disobedience to God's Word. Now as a result of his disobedience, God allowed him and the nation to be taken captured and conquered by Nebuchadnezzar. Nebuchadnezzar was a brutal king. He ruled with an iron hand.

He was a polytheist. In other words, he believed in many gods. He was a builder. He was a great leader on the world stage in his day. In 605, young people, you may want to write that down just in case you're tested, 605 BC, Nebuchadnezzar conquered Jerusalem and he took the sacred vessels of God's temple back with him to Babylon to be used in his treasury to his gods.

This is a low point in Israel's history. The sacred objects of worship in the temple of God are taken by this brutal, ruthless king, taken and put in the treasury of his gods. Don't miss the lesson here. Disobedience to God leads to destructive consequences always. It's a basic principle and that's why the subject of obedience is so important to all of us.

Obedience to God, obedience to parents, obedience to the elders of the church. Sometimes it's not easy to be obedient, but the consequences will be good if you do that. Now, not only did Nebuchadnezzar take the sacred vessels from the temple and put it in his own temples, he took the young people. He took the people. He wanted only the choice people.

So if you were an A student, you went to Babylon. If you're an F student, you stay in Jerusalem. If you do your homework and you're good, you go to Babylon. If you're a loser, and as far as your homework is concerned, you stay in Jerusalem. He wanted the brightest and the best to be used in his land to further his kingdom.

Listen to what we read in 1st Daniel 2, 1, 3, and 4. Then the king commanded Aspenaz. Now you've got to admit that is a cool name, Aspenaz. Maybe you're looking for a name after you've had your 13th and 14th child, and you'll say, let's use Aspenaz. Don't use Nebuchadnezzar.

Your children will hate you all your life. So the king commanded Aspenaz, his chief eunuch, to bring some of the people of Israel, both the royal family of the nobility, youths without blemish. Notice he wants the young people. That's because they can manipulate young people. Young people are impressive and they easily fall for things of this world.

So he wants young people. He doesn't want old people. Most of them wouldn't make it there. The walk itself would kill them. But they're hard to change older people.

I know because I am one. Youth without blemish of good appearance. I wouldn't have got that one. Skillful in all wisdom, endowed with knowledge, understanding, learning, competent to stand in the king's palace and to teach them the literature and the language of the Chaldeans. What an evil plan.

It's estimated that Daniel was about 15 years of age here, 15 or 16 years of age, and his friends. So they are middle teenagers. Now can you imagine this being taken from your home in Tennessee where you have all the food you like and all your friends, the cars you like, the music you like, and you're taken from Tennessee and you're taken to the interior of China and you don't know Chinese. Can you imagine what a shock that would be? And that's what happened here to these young people.

So how are they going to change these young people? Where they are going to use, if you look at chapter one, they're going to use classic brainwashing techniques to change these young people. And this has a lot of relevance to us today, as you will see, as our society is seeking to brainwash all of us. Let me give you some of the brainwashing techniques. Number one, take them from their homes, land, and all that they are familiar with.

Cut them off from the past. In this case, we have four teenagers captured by the military, frightening from Israel and taken to a foreign place. Second, put someone over them to change their thinking and lifestyle. Everything is done to get these young people to conform to the life in Babylon. Give them the best professors that you can think of, the best teachers and educators.

They'll watch over him and they'll make sure that they get changed. Three, make them read pagan literature. This will change their minds by the greatest writers of Babylon. Now, in 2 Corinthians 4, 4, we have a very interesting verse, and it's a very important verse where we are told that the God of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelievers so they do not see the glory of God. This is a very important verse because the devil wants your mind.

The mind separates us from the animal world. The mind shows us that we're created in the image and likeness of God so we can have communion with God and we can do these marvelous things we do in building ships and airplanes and rockets and all this. The mind is what the devil wants and that's the same thing here. They wanted the young people's minds to make their minds different, to reject their religion in their homeland and accept this new world. Guard your mind.

Fourth, change the language. Make them learn a foreign language, the Babylonian language. Do everything you can to get them to forget the past. Five, make them eat different kinds of food. No more Chick-fil-A, no more pizza.

Now you're going to be eating lobster tail and caviar and pork chops dipped in blood. You'll drink the best of wine of the king. The Jewish people had kosher food that God had prescribed for them. So this becomes a big issue. Will you eat this new kind of food, or will you eat the prescribed food that God has given to his people for a very specific person?

Verse point six, put them through a rigorous three-year educational program. Go to the University of Babylon and there you will learn the wonderful history of the Babylonian Empire. You'll learn of their religion, you'll learn of their songs, you'll learn of their way of life and their whole culture and it will be praised. What a superior culture we have here in Babylon, not like you had in Israel. In Israel you had an invisible God.

You never saw your God, he was invisible. Oh, but in Babylon We've got lots of gods and you could pick them up and walk around with them In fact in Babylon you can make yourself a god wouldn't you like to make a god that does what you want and conforms to you? Your your views your views are very uptight and limited God has given you all these rules on sex and marriage and worship. In Babylon it's live and let live. Wine, women, song, what a neat place to live.

Exciting. Don't go back to Israel. Seven, give them a new identity, a name change. Well, the names were Daniel, Hananiah, Michelle, Azariah. Now they get new names.

Biltoshazzar, Shadrach, Meshach, Nabednego. You talk about changing people. Change your name. It's interesting how we identify with our name, isn't it? And I read that people love to hear their name.

And that's why it's important when you meet people if you can use their name use their name a lot people like to hear their name imagine they're calling me Belta Shazer I like Alex I'm staying with Alex eight Then after three years they would stand before Nebuchadnezzar the king and they will be approved or disapproved. This is classic brainwashing. Now, Daniel faces this. He's fifteen years old. He's facing one of the mightiest empires in the world.

The three other men are with him. What are they going to do? Well, most people would conform and go along with the pleasures of this world. And that's what they were offering. The greatest pleasure was this mighty empire that Nebuchadnezzar built.

He was a great builder. He built a great empire. Israel seemed so out of it. Didn't look like a nice place to be. This was all pleasure.

Daniel will not go along with this. And so in verse 8, we have this incredible verse, young people. I want you to get this. Verse 8, but Daniel resolved that he would not defile himself with the king's food and with the wine that he drank Now key word key words different translations have different things resolved purposed determined in his heart. He did not wait for the time of the issue or the big decisions.

He already determined, I'm not going with the show. I'm not gonna follow what you've told me to do. He resolved to Disobey and eat God's food and not man's food not the pleasures of this world, but God's ways Which are always always better Young people, much of life is determining what you're going to do before it happens. You know who you fear. You know who you're going to obey.

You know that before. And when the temptation comes, you already know the answer. I'm getting away from that. Flee evil. This was a conscious choice to obey God.

Here is a 15-year-old young man with his other three friends, because they all do the same thing, they are men of conviction. Big word, write it down. You're taking your notes here, write that down, conviction. Help you, parents will help you to spell it. He's a man of courage.

Henry Kissinger, who was once an internationally known writer and he was the Secretary of State of our country, Henry Kissinger was asked, what is the most important quality of a world leader? And he said, courage. You have to have courage. These young men had courage because, my friends, they feared God more than they feared Nebuchadnezzar. So Daniel comes up with this ingenious plan.

He gives them an alternative. I'm not going to do what you want. That's out. You don't have to die. But here's an alternative plan.

So David talks to the chief eunuch of Ashpenaz. And he comes up with this plan and he asks, let us in the experiment not eat the king's food and the king's wine. I'm sure it was very good. I don't think it was as good as the cafeteria where we were just now, but I'm sure it was very good. He said, no, we're gonna eat God's food.

Let us try this for 10 days, eating God's food, not your food. See how we look. And so we have here in verse 13, test your servants for 10 days. Let us be given vegetables to eat and water to drink. Then let our appearance and the appearance of the youths who eat the king's food.

Now, there's a clue right there. Others were giving in. Others were following the program. Eat only the king's food. Learn this language.

Learn this literature. Learn this culture. Conform. Conform. So others were doing it.

And be observed by you and deal with your servants according to what you see. Well, the stewards listened to Daniel. They tested him for 10 days, and after 10 days, Daniel and his three friends looked better in appearance than the young people who conformed to the program of Nebuchadnezzar. And so God richly blesses these four young men. Listen to what we read in verses 17 to 20.

As for these four youth, God gave them learning and skill in all literature and wisdom, and Daniel had understanding of all visions and dreams. And the king spoke with him, and among all of them none was found like Daniel, Hananiah, Michelle, Azariah. And in every matter of wisdom and understanding about which the king inquired of them, he found them to be, now look at this, look at this, ten times better than all the magicians and enchanters that were in all his kingdom. Ten times more intelligent and wise. Now, I want to tell you this is not normal intelligence or smartness.

This is supernatural. God gave them extraordinary understanding of life and wisdom and intelligence so that they become actually a blessing to the king of Babylon and later Persia. They honored God, and God honored them with greater wisdom and strength. They feared God more than Nebuchadnezzar, and God honored them for this. And that's the principle.

They did not fear the king. And they served in a foreign land for the next 30 to 40 years and became key figures in the courts of the kings in this pagan world. However, they were of great help to Nebuchadnezzar and others. They still were obedient children to God. They did both.

They did both. They served in Babylon. They served in high court, and they never compromised. You're going to have to do that. You may have to have a job in the world.

You may have to have a job in the world You may have to have a neighborhood you live in and the people may not like you very much. I think you're rather uptight strict religious people You live there you work there You rub shoulders with those people and you can be a blessing to them more than they realize. And at the same time, you don't compromise the Word of God. You do both. And that's what these men did for the next 30 to 40 years.

They are a blessing to these vast kingdoms of Persia and Babylon. And yet, as we see later in the book, Daniel will not stop praying. No matter what they do to him, He's going to be a man of prayer. He's going to the window. Let them all see him pray.

Like Daniel, you also have your Babylon to face. Now, there's actually nothing new here. The communists have been doing this for the last 70 years. Right now in China we see what they've done to the Uyghur people and other peoples. They've brainwashed them, enlightened them.

We see this in Russia going on all the time. When I was in my late teens I became very interested in communism because in my day, we were being trained to hide under the table when the atomic bombs came. We actually practiced going under the desk table. Now, let me tell you, if they dropped an atomic bomb, you'd just become part of the table. You'd melt with the table.

I don't know what good it did it but made the teachers feel good. So there was a lot of talk about the Soviet Union taking over America, it was the Cuban crisis. So I became very interested in the philosophy of communism. Here's what I can tell you about communism and brainwashing. Are you ready?

Lies, lies, more lies, lies, lies. The whole system is a lie and it's maintained by lies. You've got a lie, lie, lie, you've got a lie in the news, a lie in the college, just Penetrate the whole society with lies. There it is, I just gave that to you. You could have gotten a PhD.

That's what we have here. It's a culture of lies. That's what we have in our modern humanistic secular society. And ladies, particularly, they like to lie to ladies. You know, they tell ladies, now listen, ladies, you've got a Constitutional right to kill your own children.

Did you know that lies lies? You go out with the boy. You've got to do what he wants sexually. He bought you a hamburger and a coke Women are lied to a lot It's manipulation and we know where it came from because John 844 said, I hope you know John 844, very important text of Scripture. All lies come from the devil.

He's the father of lies. In fact, if there's anything that illustrates John 844, the devil is a murderer and a liar from the beginning is abortion. It's lies and it's murder. It's one of his favorite tools. Listen to me carefully.

The music you hear, the TV shows you see, the movies you watch, the advertisements you hear, the video games you play, the Internet, the schools, the colleges, All of these things are trying to brainwash you into becoming an American humanistic secularist. And let me tell you, they're good at teaching and convincing people. They've been at it a long time. They have their sexual liberation and wine, women, and songs, and gender and marital confusion, and absence of moral absolutes, and divine judgment, and they hate our teaching. They hate our teaching.

They want to criminalize our teachings, our beliefs in marriage and home and all these things. We're facing the same thing and the power of the media, what it can do to shape a whole culture. It's so hard to stand against this culture today. It's so powerful. Their message sounds so liberating, so true, and we look like a bunch of religious fanatics, intolerant.

Neanderthals, people from the Dark Ages. It's hard for young people to stand against that. Now they're not going to bother me. They're not going to change my mind. But when you're 13, 14, 15, it's easy.

And that's why the Babylonians wanted the young people. They don't want those old people. They want the young people so they can change their mind and make Babylonians out of them. We are under that assault today with great vigor. But Daniel purposed, he determined, I am not going to eat the king's food.

I'm not going with the program. And God honored him greatly and gave him ten times the wisdom that was demanded of these men. And that brings us to Romans 12, 2, such an important verse. Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind. J.B.

Phillips' expansion of this is very famous. I'll read it to you. Don't let the world around you squeeze you into its mold, but let God remake you so that your whole attitude of mind is changed. Don't let the world around you squeeze you into its mold. So, You young people, you're faced with hard choices.

The world or God's way. Who are you going to serve? Who are you going to obey? What have you determined in your mind now about how you'll step forward in life as you age and as this culture with its tremendous pressure like the deep ocean coming down on you in TV and air and the neighbors and work coming down on you saying what you believe is foolishness Liberate yourself. Daniel is an example.

He determined, he purposed already in his mind, I'm following the Lord. I love the law of the Lord. I fear the true God. So in one sense it was an easy choice because he feared God and he loved the law of the Lord. So if you love the law of the Lord it's not, it's not, it's gonna even be a choice.

This is a wonderful story, a wonderful story. There's a song, I don't know if you parents have taught it. By the way, parents, I hope you will teach, first Daniel 1, 8, but there's a song, Dare to be a Daniel. Raise your hand if you've ever heard it. Oh, wonderful.

Most places I go, they've never heard it. Dare to be a Daniel. Dare to stand alone. Dare to have a purpose strong. Dare to make it known.

Oh, what a wonderful song. It's a shame we're not singing that today, because it's the message. It's the message that we have here this morning, dare to be a Daniel. Look at this fine young man. Now what I want to do, I'm not exactly sure when I'm supposed to stop and I don't want to ask because I have guilt if I go over time.

And when Scott gets mad, I mean, I don't want to face him. I just, you know, I'll go off the stage that way or get up there with you people up there. But I want to expand on this now, a very important subject from Daniel, and that is youth is a special time in life to connect with God. Yes. Do you know Ecclesiastes 12.1?

I asked this and asked this and I have not found a young person who knows Ecclesiastes 12.1, which is a disgrace. Remember your Creator in the days of your youth before the evil days come and the years draw nigh when you will say, I have no delight in them. Young people, I'm going to ask you if you have it. I would imagine most of you have. If you have not memorized this, please memorize it.

Please. Remember your Creator in the days of your youth before the evil day comes. Let me give you five quick points. I'll move quickly, but I've got a big key point. Number one, youth is a special time in life marked by strength.

Youth is a special time in life marked by strength. The glory of the young men is their strength, and the honor of the old men is their gray hair." Or we could expand that to no hair. Now what the writer is doing here is he's setting up two seasons of life. He's contrasting young men and older men. And the glory of the young men and young women is their strength, their vigor, their energy, their zeal, their vitality, their vision, their idealism, their growth.

You are healthy. You're irradiate with health. You can eat what you want. You don't have all kinds of bags of pills. Look, I've got a bag of pills.

I've got to carry this around. I'm so tired of it, carrying these pills. You don't have to do that. You don't have all the doctor appointments I have That's why older people want their youth back they want to go down to Augustine, Florida to the fountain of youth. I've been there.

I drank of the fountain of youth. It didn't do anything. Actually, it's terrible. Older people want that vigor, that vitality. Now, if you're questioning, are you young or older?

Here's a real simple test. OK, here's the test. If at eight thirty at night, your chief thought is going to bed and getting ready for bed, you are old. If at 9.30 at night you are thinking, I want to go out for pizza, I'm going to go out and play basketball with my friends, I want to get out and ride my bike and still light out. You're young.

Okay, so I'm talking to the young ones The glory of youth is that vitality. Oh, it's so wonderful You know, I do love coming here because you see these kids go every direction they're running around and the older people, you know, they're over here like this. You ever go to a party and you got the people 70 and over and they're all in their little chairs sitting there, they know that, and the little children, they're running all around falling, running into each other, crying, getting hurt. Oh, the beauty, the beauty of youth. But there is the honor, the honor of old age.

You do have wisdom and understanding. You have reputation. There are many good things. Youth can be, Age can be a wonderful time in life. Now what he's saying is honor both.

Honor both. Both have their advantages. Don't despise young. Sometimes older people despise young people because they're so loud and noisy and cause so much trouble. And the young people don't like older people and they fear older people.

No, he's saying they both have their honor. They both have their advantages and we should respect each. Second, youth is to be enjoyed. Ecclesiastes 11, 9, rejoice young man during your childhood and let your heart be pleasant during the days of young manhood and follow the impulses of your heart and the desires of your eyes. Yet know that God will bring you to judgment for all these things." Now, this passage extols the joys of youth.

The Bible is not a stuffy old book. Holiness is not stuffy. You can be holy and happy and be cheerful. Youth is a special time of joy and freedom and adventure and learning and growing and laughing and friendship and exploring life. And so what he's saying here, rejoice in your youth.

Express the pleasures of your heart. He means in a righteous way here. The desires of your eyes. When you're young, you're adventurous. You've got ideals.

You've got different things you want to do. You want to travel? Travel. You want to go to learn another language? Learn that.

We had a young man in our church, he wanted to go to Israel. So badly, I said, go now, go now, you won't be able to do this later. And he went to the university in Jerusalem. You want to bungee jump, do it now. You want to raft on the Colorado River, do it now.

You want to do skiing and scuba diving, do it now. We had a young man in our church, he wanted to climb Mount Everest. I thought it was rather ridiculous, but he raised this money. He climbed Mount Everest. I'm glad he didn't ask me to go with him.

You want to start a business? We have a man right there in the back here. Young man came to Mr. Doyle Rolfe who's back there and he said, I've got this idea for pillows on pillows. And Mr.

Rolfe said to him, do it now. You won't have a chance later in life. And he started a pillow thing that you've probably heard of and made millions of dollars on pillows. Doyle said to him, do it now. You're young, you're adventurous, you've got these visions.

You want to go on a mission trip? Go now. George Bernard Shaw made this very famous statement, youth is such a wonderful time in life. It's shame, it's wasted on the young. Now, there's a warning, there's a warning.

Yet know that God will bring you to judgment for all these things. Now, this sounds like a contradiction. Have adventure, be happy, be free, but God's going to judge you. Well, he's not throwing cold water on what he says. It's a warning of protection.

Yes, youth is a time to rejoice, and you've got big ideas, and you've got things you want to do. You've got all the energy. But remember this, there's responsibility too. And you must protect yourself because you can easily go from adventure into sin. And so God is warning us here, rejoice in your youth.

Be adventurous. Enjoy this season of life. But remember, eternity's values in view. And God does call all us into account at some time. Now three, youth is a time to work hard and prepare for the future.

It is good for a man that he should bear the yoke in his youth. Now although this text speaks directly of the suffering of the people of Israel under the foreign nations, It can be used to remind us that we have been called to work hard. This has the idea of bearing the yoke, which implies discipline, hard work, suffering, and pain. What you find here, bearing the yoke in your youth, is that this is a time you've got this strength, you have this vitality, you've got visions of what you would like to do. Well, you bear the yoke and you are laying the foundation for the rest of life.

Jobs, marriage, church, character, career, principles of life, you learn that in youth. You bear the yoke. You study hard. You're self-disciplined. Romans 12, 11, not lagging behind in zeal.

I often put this on letters, put Romans 12, 11, not lagging behind in zeal. I often put this on letters, put Romans 12, 11, not lagging behind in zeal. Fervent in spirit, serving the Lord. Paul says to Timothy, let no one despise you for your youth, but set the believers an example in speech and conduct and love and faith, purity. Bear the yoke in your youth.

Take the responsibility. Don't run from responsibility. You've got the strength to do this. Abraham Lincoln said, I will prepare myself so that when my time comes, I will be ready. So be ready.

If a door opens, an opportunity comes, a new adventure, a new job, You're ready. You've already borne the yoke. You know hard work. You know self-discipline. You know responsibility.

You're not afraid of it. Do that in your youth. Now, four, four, and maybe most important, and what I want to say to you at this time. Now remember this is for young people. If you're older, you can snap.

I will not, it will not bother me if you have a little nap. Just don't not snore or poke people. Okay, Don't do that. Youth is a special time in life to connect with God. This is my big point of the evening.

Remember your Creator in the days of your youth before the evil days come and the years draw near oh and they do draw near when you will say I have no delight in them remember your Creator in the days of your youth I memorized this as a youth I did It's been a verse that's gone with me all my life, and it's a verse I like to get on to young people, and I'm so sad there's so many young people. They don't even know this. They've never memorized this. This is a message from God. Now, what's the evil days which are coming?

Well, verses 2 to 7 tell us it's old age and death. These are inevitable. They're the shadow hanging over you. If you look at the statistics, and We could do it right here if we had time. How many people were born again under 25 or under 30?

Most hands will go up. How many are born again under 15? Many hands will go up, under 10. Ask how many people are saved after 80? You almost do not see a hand.

It's true. People as they get older become colder in heart, they become set in their ways, they're not interested. So for probably 30 years we run a religious service at a huge center, a large apartment building, that must be 12, 15 stories. We run a religious service for all these super seniors, you know, people over 70, 80, and 90. We've only in all these years seen one real response, and we give them really good teaching.

We've taken through Romans and Ephesians. I wonder what these people even think. They don't respond. Their hearts are hard. Their minds are made up.

They're not interested in changing. But when you're young, you're open. You're more vulnerable. You're more sensitive to the voice of God. And so that's why he's saying in your youth, you're going to connect with God better because the evil day is coming, the day of old age and the day of death.

Now he says, remember your creator. He doesn't say remember God. He says remember your creator. Now the Hebrew idea of remember is not just don't forget, it means a sense of dedication and commitment. By the word remember, the writer also calls on his readers to meditate and think on the brief season of life called youth and to be serious about your relationship with your Creator.

Remember, you are a creature, you are a created being, and He is your Maker, He's your Sustainer, He's the Potter, you're the clay, you are completely and totally dependent upon him for drawing the next breath Remember your creator in all your decisions and in life choices Remember someday you will answer to your creator So when we say remember your creator we say connect with them It's the time in life when you can most connect with the Lord God and be saved and dedicate your life to God. This is an action. This is a commitment you are to make. Remember Him in all these aspects as a created being before a holy Creator who holds your life in His hands. Do this before it's too late and you have little interest in the Creator or in salvation.

The worst decision you could make in life is to forget and ignore or reject the creator of your youth. It's a terrible mistake. There's a story told of a pastor named Mr. Mack, M-A-X, and his wife, And they were going to the drug store to get, probably get medications. All older people, that's all they do is get medications.

So anyway, I just threw mine away. They came up to the store and they were in the car. And as they were in the car, Mr. Max went in to buy whatever he was getting. And Mrs.

Max was sitting there with the window open. And she saw some of the children from the church come by and she heard them talking. And one of the children said, I don't want to be saved for now. I'm gonna wait till later. I want to enjoy life Well, mrs.

Mack was really discouraged and hearing that this young lady saying this So she came up with an idea she went to the florist shop the next day and she said to the owner, I want 12 dead roses. The owner thought it was rather strange, but they did it. 12 dead roses put in a box and I want to send to this address. So the next Sunday or two, Mrs. Mack ran into this young lady.

And she said to the young lady, did you receive my roses? I sent you the, and the young lady said, yes, I did. I did, but did you know they were all dead? And Mrs. Mack said, of course I knew they were dead.

I bought them for you. I wanted you to have dead roses. And the young lady didn't know what to think. And then Mrs. Mack explained, she said, I heard what you said a week ago that you were going to wait till later to deal with the Lord and come to the Lord.

You know something dear, God doesn't want your dead roses. He doesn't want the crumbs of your life, he wants you. And the best decision you could make is to remember your Creator when you're young, when you're young. You got a whole lifetime in front of you to offer to the Lord. This is such an important truth here.

So the preacher is justified in reminding young people that they cannot afford to put off faith in God, their Creator, until they're older. God wants the best, and then you have a whole life to serve Him. My father made a profession of faith at 85 years of age. I was very delighted with that, but he only had a few years to live. How much better to come to the Lord when you're five, ten, fifteen, and you've got a whole life to offer to him?

And I'll tell you something, there's nothing better than offering your life to the Lord. You want a happy life? Don't go to Babylon. They'll just fake you out. You'll be miserable by the time they're done with you.

The only really happy people who know God and walk with God. You're really happy then. You understand life. You know what it's all about. Now the last point is youth passes quickly.

Childhood and the prime of life are fleeting, he says, chapter 11, 10b. Now do we have, oh we do have a picture up there. Here's what he's saying. Youth is a special time in life, but it's a short time in life. It's a window, a small window of time, maybe 10, a little more years.

Adolescence is about 10 years, even less than 10 years, maybe 7 years. There's this little window of life that is special in connecting with God and committing your life to the Lord. And what the writer is saying is that little window doesn't last long because death and old age comes quickly, a lot quicker than you think. It was literally yesterday that I was sitting where some of you are sitting right now. I can remember I wasn't as good looking as you, but I was sitting in your seat.

I was 11 years old when I first heard the gospel and got saved. 11 years old. It was yesterday. Then I was a teenager. Had wonderful years as a teenager serving the Lord.

Pine Bush Bible Camp. Camp right outside of New York City. We had hundreds of inner city kids come every summer for eight or nine years working, serving the Lord all summer, serving the Lord, working hard, but having a lot of fun, a lot of enjoyment, a lot of laughs with brothers and sisters. It was yesterday and here I am an 80 year old man. How in the world did that happen?

How did that happen to a nice person like me? I don't know, but here's the point. It happened fast, real fast, and that's what the Bible says. The Bible says life goes by quickly. When Billy Graham was asked, what is the biggest shock you had in life, he said the brevity of life.

At your age it seems like it's going so slow. That clock moves so slow. At my age I'm going, hold back, hold back. It's almost at the end. It's really true.

Ask your parents. Youth is a special time in life to connect with the Creator, and it's only a short little window of time, and then the evil day comes. As the years go by and the decades go by, you have less and less interest in the Lord or in the Lord's things or wanting to change or even listen to God. Now is the time. In your youth, dedicate your life to Jesus Christ.

You will never be sorry, never, never, never. And then he offers the greatest gift of eternal life. My dear young brothers and sisters, you are our most valuable resource. You are more valuable than gold or oil or money or buildings because you are our future. I am not the future.

I've only got maybe if the Lord allows it five to ten years before I'm in the evil day fully and there's not much left of me. But you are the future. You are future missionaries, visionaries, Bible teachers, evangelists, church planners, elders, deacons, wives who will care for their husbands and their children. In a very short time, the responsibility of the Church of Jesus Christ is going to rest on your shoulders. That's right, it's going to rest on your shoulders.

Are you ready? Bear the oak in your youth. Prepare your heart, prepare your mind. Remember your Creator when you're young, before old age comes and it comes fast and furious at you When you say, I have no enjoyment in those things, will you do that? Place your life into the hands of the Lord Jesus Christ, you will never be sorry.

And if you forget that and you neglect that, you will be very sorry. Our God, our Father, we pray for all these beautiful young people here, shining faces, energy, power they're racing around. But the future comes fast, and all of a sudden they're not young. All of a sudden, they're middle age. All of a sudden, the responsibilities of the Church of Jesus Christ is upon their shoulders.

May they be ready, because they have prepared themselves. Thank you for this conference, which is preparing many of these young people for future service in the work of God. We ask this in our Lord's name. Amen.