God Chooses the Young (& Old)!

God Chooses the Young (& Old)!   Kelly Durant    June 2003 (Re 4-22-2018)

 Verses: Prov 4:1-10

4:1 Hear, ye children, the instruction of a father, and attend to know understanding.

2 For I give you good doctrine, forsake ye not my law.

3 For I was my father's son, tender and only beloved in the sight of my mother.

4 He taught me also, and said unto me, Let thine heart retain my words: keep my commandments, and live.

5 Get wisdom, get understanding: forget it not; neither decline from the words of my mouth.

6 Forsake her not, and she shall preserve thee: love her, and she shall keep thee.

7 Wisdom is the principal thing; therefore get wisdom: and with all thy getting get understanding.

8 Exalt her, and she shall promote thee: she shall bring thee to honour, when thou dost embrace her.

9 She shall give to thine head an ornament of grace: a crown of glory shall she deliver to thee.

10 Hear, O my son, and receive my sayings; and the years of thy life shall be many.

2. The Lord throughout the Bible quite often chose young people to do his work! Who comes to mind when we think of a young chose one?

Let’s take a look at Mary, the mother of Jesus. Before it was accepted that she must have been around the age of 16 or 18 when she was chosen to bear a child which would be the Savior of the world! 

But I have been in shock to learn recently that those who study Jewish history and culture who know of the customs 2,000 years ago, have come to the conclusion that she might have been as young as 12 or 13 since that was the age to marry! 

We may never know the exact age she was, but still it is agreed that she was chosen while she was young, probably a teenager! Lets look up…1 Cor 1:27

27 But God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise; and God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty;

3. This does not mean that the young people are foolish (even thought they can be at times), what it means is God will often chose the apparent weak, or someone who is dedicated to Him and loves Him, over the ‘set in theirs ways’ older people who appear to have the power, preparation, and status for the job. 

Another classic example of how God will choose the youngest is when Samuel was seeking whom to anoint to be king of Judah.  The Lord had showed him to go to the house of Jesse, but one by one Samuel went through all his sons and he didn’t find the right one. The oldest one in Jewish custom usually would be the one to obtain the anointing and power but this was not the case here. 

Here it was the youngest son who was David. Let’s read…1 Sam 16:10-13

10 Again, Jesse made seven of his sons to pass before Samuel. And Samuel said unto Jesse, The LORD hath not chosen these.

11yet the youngest, and, behold, he keepeth the sheep. And Samuel said unto Jesse, Send and fetch him: for we will not sit down till he come hither.

12 And he sent, and brought him in. Now he was ruddy, and withal of a beautiful countenance, and goodly to look to. And the LORD said, Arise, anoint him: for this is he.

13 Then Samuel took the horn of oil, and anointed him in the midst of his brethren: and the Spirit of the LORD came upon David from that day forward. So Samuel rose up, and went to Ramah. 

4. It is important to take note that God will not always choose those that you would think are the most prepared, experienced, or strong to do his work. He often chooses the young and flexible, and radical. If there is one thing we can say about the youth, it is that usually they are radical! 

In Nazi Germany some of the most valiant, ruthless and dedicated (but for the wrong cause) were the very young teenage soldiers. What the truth about the youth is, is that they want to be dedicated to a cause that is extreme, and if we in the church do not put them to use for Christ in something good, then they may go to the opposite extreme and serve Satan through the desires of their own flesh which is what the enemy uses to destroy them with! 

It is amazing that, what is it 35% of all crimes, are committed by teenagers! They love to take risks! They love adventure and I don’t blame them, I was the same way! Life is too short to just live it in a boring routine. 

5. One time I gave a class to a group of 8 young people between the ages of 18 and 23 who are going to Bolivia on a mission trip. There are three teams leaving from our Southern Territory, one to Bolivia, one to Haiti, and one to Maldova, a breakaway republic of Russia. (If any of you young people ever want to go, I will help you apply, but you have to be 18). They were excited!

The Salvation Army is aware that many young people need to work the summer while in college so they even pay them something, contrary to other churches that have you raise your own air fare and then work abroad for free! They are able to do that because they set aside a portion of money from the tithes. 

We give our 10% to God , and our Corps gives 10% to the Territory’s work as well and that is what makes this possible. The Salvation Army, and many religious movements started out with mostly all young people! We all know that young people have a lot of energy, and the great thing is they also are capable of having a lot of conviction to do the right thing when they have been brought up to love the Lord or when the Spirit of the Lord comes upon them as it did with King David, and many youth in the Bible. 

6. Do you know how children learn to love the Lord? Do they learn it at school? No! The American school system right now is as Godless as the communist nations! Do they learn it in church? Maybe a little, but they usually are only here a few hours a week and that is not very much influence at all when you consider there are 168 hours in a week! 

They must learn it from their parents! How many young people here have seen their parents up in the morning praying in the privacy of their rooms? How many young people here have seen their parents reading the Bible at home and studying the Word of God? How many young people have had their parents give them counsel from the word of God when they ask them about life’s issues? 

Did you know that according to the statistics that in the 70’s about 30% of the American youth went to church and knew the values of the Bible and right and wrong, but in the 90’s that number was only 15%? And now the future is here and the Christian social studies gurus believe that as few as 4% of the current young people go to church and adhere to Christian values. They do not even know anything at all about the Bible! 

7. Our entire nation by losing its moral compass and youth for Christ is on the brink of falling, just as Rome fell, not with one big war that wiped them out, but little by little.  An eroding unity and respect for one another, an eroding economy mixed with corruption on all levels foment hate and hostility to those who hold honorable values. What do we see in the future?  More widespread sexual perversion, more laziness and entitlements, and more acts of violence. Rioters, protesters, and terrorists essentially all seek to overthrow the established order but what do they offer? A dictatorship?  And the old Christians like you and me who can teach them wisdom are dying out! Lets look up…

2 Tim 2:2

2 And the things that thou hast heard of me among many witnesses, the same commit thou to faithful men, who shall be able to teach others also. And lets’ review a few of the verses of today from Provers 4: 5 Get wisdom, get understanding: forget it not; neither decline from the words of my mouth.

6 Forsake her not, and she shall preserve thee: love her, and she shall keep thee. 7 Wisdom is the principal thing; therefore get wisdom: and with all thy getting get understanding.

  

We have a great need, and we must pray to put massive amounts of effort into preparing our youth! They are our future! If we take a look at Godless Europe today, we may soon be seeing our fate here. They are somewhat more advanced in the legal acceptance of sins, and the current world’s perversions, and they are closing churches daily there due to a lack of attendance! In a news report in 2002 in Ireland, they reported closed 9 seminar schools, and they only have one left! In England 500 churches closed and 500 Mosques opened up!

8. We need to pray God will raise up radical, on fire youth that will lay down their lives for Jesus and the mission! You know as well as I do Daniel was young when he stood up for God. And Timothy too. Let’s look up…1 Tim 4:12

12 Let no man despise thy youth; but be thou an example of the believers, in word, in conversation, in charity, in spirit, in faith, in purity. 

So whether you are young, or old, what God is looking for is that you be fully sold out radical and dedicated to Him! And the old have the responsibility to teach to young and be an example and remember Jesus warning that if we cause a little one to stumble that it would be better we kill our selves with a millstone on our necks in the lake! To deprave them the word of God, to be a hypocrite or a bad example as a parent is stumbling them. 

Let’s pray for our youth so that they will be strong, be protected, and be anointed to keep going for Jesus! Which of our youth is God calling? I am here ready to support them to serve God, and you?