In Thee, O Lord, I have taken refuge; let me never be ashamed.

(2) In Thy righteousness deliver me, and rescue me; incline Thine ear to me, and save me.

(3) Be Thou to me a rock of habitation, to which I may continually come; Thou hast given commandment to save me, for Thou art my rock and my fortress.

(4) Rescue me, O my God, out of the hand of the wicked, out of the grasp of the wrongdoer and ruthless man,

(5) For Thou art my hope; O Lord God, Thou art my confidence from my youth.

(6) By Thee I have been sustained from my birth; Thou art He who took me from my mother’s womb; my praise is continually of Thee.

(17)O God, Thou hast taught me from my youth; and I still declare Thy wondrous deeds.

(18) And even when I am old and gray, O God, do not forsake me, until I declare Thy strength to this generation, thy power to all who are to come.

Ecclesiastes 12:1: Remember also your Creator in the days of your youth, before the evil days come and the years draw near when you will say, "I have no delight in them;"

We are familiar with this passage from practically every lesson directed at young people, obviously this one not an exception.

Why do you think that is? Why is it so important to turn to consideration of God and His glories early on in life, before hardships arise?

Character is formed in youth.

Here I have a lump of dough—it’s soft, pliable, easy to shape. I want you all to imagine that you have a piece of dough similar to this . . . as I’m sure you’re all wishing you did anyway, considering all the fun I’m having ;) . This lump of dough you’re imagining is going to represent YOU; the inner you, your character.

This dough is fresh, right out of the container . . . let’s presume this dough will never be put back into its container—

Over time, it will become harder to shape and form, it will crumble when you try to alter its shape, later still it will be impossible to do anything with it unless you add something to the process, get it moist with water.

This is how the mind, the character, develops. A young mind is more easily formed than an older, more experienced mind—you would have to work a great deal harder to shape the dough once its been left out over a period of time. But in youth, you shape what your life will be, and once set, that form will be more and more difficult to break.

II Samuel 18—Absalom’s rebellion against David with the people of Israel

v.5: And the king charged Joab and Abishai and Ittai, saying, "Deal gently for my sake with the young man Absalom." And all the people heard when the king charged all the commanders concerning Absalom.

—as the battle went on, David waited out at the gates to hear word of the struggle—his throne and the nation depended upon his army’s success

v.24-33:

24  And David sat between the two gates: and the watchman went up to the roof over the gate unto the wall, and lifted up his eyes, and looked, and behold a man running alone.

25  And the watchman cried, and told the king. And the king said, If he be alone, there is tidings in his mouth. And he came apace, and drew near.

26  And the watchman saw another man running: and the watchman called unto the porter, and said, Behold another man running alone. And the king said, He also bringeth tidings.

27  And the watchman said, Methinketh the running of the foremost is like the running of Ahim'a-az the son of Zadok. And the king said, He is a good man, and cometh with good tidings.

28  And Ahim'a-az called, and said unto the king, All is well. And he fell down to the earth upon his face before the king, and said, Blessed be the LORD thy God, which hath delivered up the men that lifted up their hand against my lord the king.

29  And the king said, Is the young man Absalom safe? And Ahim'a-az answered, When Jo'ab sent the king's servant, and me thy servant, I saw a great tumult, but I knew not what it was.

30  And the king said unto him, Turn aside, and stand here. And he turned aside, and stood still.

31  And, behold, Cushi came; and Cushi said, Tidings, my lord the king: for the LORD hath avenged thee this day of all them that rose up against thee.

32  And the king said unto Cushi, Is the young man Absalom safe? And Cushi answered, The enemies of my lord the king, and all that rise against thee to do thee hurt, be as that young man is.

33  And the king was much moved, and went up to the chamber over the gate, and wept: and as he went, thus he said, O my son Absalom! my son, my son Absalom! would God I had died for thee, O Absalom, my son, my son!

He wasn’t anxious for his kingdom . . . but his son. "Is the young man Absalom safe?"

—but, you know, parents, this was a question that he should have asked long before this battle

—if David’s love had been one of wisdom and guidance, involvement, more watchful for his son than it was simply fond, he wouldn’t have waited until Absalom rebelled against the nation—but when he first rebelled against his parental guidance he would have asked himself, "Is the young man Absalom safe?"

—Parents, what are they watching? What are they listening to? What character individual are they drawn to? A common excuse for allowing kids to partake in improper forms of entertainment is, "Oh, they know that the real thing is wrong and they’d never do it." Well, if they really understood how wrong the real thing is, why do they delight in observing it simulated? That’s one of the most common excuses made for the rapper Eminem—others call him artist, but I can’t bring myself to. He raps about raping his mother and hacking his wife up into pieces and folks in the entertainment industry say, "Oh, it’s just a persona—it’s a picture of our society that he’s illustrating." Oh, it’s much more than that. It’s a picture of society that he’s celebrating and promoting and making lots and lots of money off of.

—"Youth is the raw material of manhood. The old man is simply what he began to be in his youth. [Adulthood] can only mature . . . [on] the seeds that were sown in the springtime of life. It is in youth that the work must be done and the influences brought to bear that are to mold the character and shape the destiny of [an individual]."

—We can fundamentally understand this when it comes to our education. What you learn in school is the foundation on which you are to build your knowledge for the rest of your life. Does that mean when you’re 30 years old you’ll remember all the math formulas you’re pounding into your head right now? NO! Any adult in this room can—or rather, CAN’T, tell you about the fine details of their high school/middle school experience. But what you’ve done in school is developed your mind to receiving and processing information . . . "you have learned how to learn." Is it any different with your spiritual growth?

I want you to take that lump of dough in your mind and picture yourself shaping it into a brain, or maybe a book.

We must be diligent to study, to learn the ways of truth.

II Timothy 2:15:

Be diligent to present yourself approved to God as a workman who does not need to be ashamed, handling accurately the word of truth.

—the Christian is instructed to handle ACCURATELY the word of truth . . . well, there must be an IN-accurate way of handling the truth, mustn’t there?

I Timothy 1:5-8:

But the goal of our instruction is love from a pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith.

For some men, straying from these things, have turned aside to fruitless discussion,

Wanting to be teachers of the Law, even though they do not understand either what they are saying or the matters about which they make confident assertions.

But we know that the Law is good, if one uses it lawfully . . . .

—we see the product of NOT handling accurately the word of truth; ignorance and failure to learn and apply knowledge is the root of religious error

I Corinthians 14:15—we must also STUDY with the understanding . . . this is fundamentally more important . . . and we must GROW

Hebrews 5:12—those Christians were EXPECTED to grow; were these spectacular individuals, do you think, or folks like us? Nevertheless, they were to learn and then TEACH

—from milk to meat—how silly would it be for a 25-year-old to be sitting in a restaurant sucking a bottle of formula? We think nothing of a 25-year-old who isn’t adequately rooted in knowledge to the extent that he can teach.

BUT there’s more to it than just knowledge; "The important thing about knowledge is not simply to know, but to know how." Part of learning to "know how" is from constant, daily practice. If we put aside time to study a part of God’s Word every day, I guarantee there’s something new we could learn every day—and the growing wouldn’t EVER stop. Because once you’ve covered all the topics, you go through them again, and—BINGO!—another application you didn’t see before. And if we learned just one thing new every day of our lives, imagine how much better off we’d be the next day and the next and the next.

—And in that daily practice, we must make not only outward application, but inward—to the hearts, young people, we are NOW molding

Take your imaginary dough, now, change that brain or that book into a heart.

The inward growth and molding is the "heart" of the matter. Intellectual prowess is good for a reputation, but reputation is nothing without character to sustain it.

Your words, your acts may impress people—your brothers and sisters in Christ may even BENEFIT from you—and that is good, that is a responsibility. But NEVER become someone who teaches and even LEARNS the truth, but doesn’t try in the slightest to BE LIKE the truth they teach and comprehend.

*Have you ever received a compliment you knew you didn’t deserve?

Most times I preach on a topic I need to grow in, I need to hear—compliments, "God bless you," "you’re what we need more of!"—and that’s euphoric, uplifting . . . but at the end of the day I know that I’m NOT what I was teaching—and that’s an empty, horrible feeling.

At the close of the day, you’re still left with YOURSELF. I’m going to read a quote from Sen. Carmack, because there’s no way I could put it better:
 

". . . the main thing, so far as your own peace and happiness is concerned, is what you honestly think of yourself [at the end of the day]. You may derive hollow and transient pleasure from the praises of your deluded fellow men; but when you have retired to the solitude of your [bedroom] and [turned out the light], you will see in the darkness the hypocrite who was invisible in the light. Then you will try to kick your conscience out of bed, and you will roll over on the other side to get away from yourself; but, in spite of everything you can do, you will look down into the depths of [yourself] and shrink and wither in your self-contempt. There is one person whose honest good opinion is worth more to your peace of mind that all the world beside. That person is yourself."

Consider the case of King Saul, in I Samuel 15. Here Saul is sent to annihilate the Agagites . . . but rather he spares them; which, if you remember past lessons from the book of Esther, came around in the form of Haman the Agagite to bite the Israelites back, and that’s just one instance.

But the point here is Saul’s disobedience.

v.11—God’s regret

v.24—Saul’s motive—the favor of men. That’s what Saul was after, and yet Saul lived to see a man far greater than he, a man who loved God and is described as being "after God’s own heart," be given the praise that HE disobeyed the Almighty God for. And all Saul had left to dwell in was bitterness and contempt—what he lived for was taken away by a man who ultimately would have been just fine without it. We can understand—but by no means justify—the reasons Saul had to kill David.

Young people, we must hold strong to truth, live by it, and it will be praised through you.

Grow in knowledge, grow in your heart, and . . . .

Do not rely solely on your knowledge or intellect

We’re familiar with situations where a person has "studied his way out of faith," or someone who was "too smart for his own good." What I wonder is, was his intellect getting too big, or was his faith getting too weak? There is a wisdom that belongs to man, it is a wisdom that second-guesses the laws and precepts of God, it supposes things that are not so and denies things that it can not explain, things that are of powers that the intellect is incapable of understanding. Faith cannot be understood! A prominent evolutionist from Harvard was on TV a few weeks ago, calling Creationism "anti-intellectual." It IS anti-intellectual, it is irrational—it relies on MIRACLES!!

Take your imaginary dough, now, that represents your life—make a baton, like you’d carry in a race—or maybe a torch like they carry in the Olympics. This is what drives your character forward.

"We know that nations have risen to the noblest heights of intellectual greatness while stooping to the lowest depths of moral decay."

How true that is of our own great nation—here we are in a world more advanced in knowledge and technology than any that we know of before it. And as we progress, our morals are slipping downhill.

Consider for a moment the wisdom of Solomon—granted him by God, and still he sunk into the vanity of splendor and glory. Or consider the intellectual state of Satan—a divine being created to glorify God. With the knowledge and wisdom that entails, Satan was driven to do evil.

Every person’s intellect [BRAIN, BOOK] is steered by his passion [BATON, TORCH].

If God is your passion, that is what will shape you.

But a focus on God may mean that you’re not going to be wealthy, famous, or well-known—I know, young people, I’m one of you, it’s a devastating thing to go through. Living on godly passion, your life may be quite simple in the world’s view. But what was made of the life of a peasant from a backwater village in Galilee? Christ came and filled a life in that lowly position, He began his ministry in meager conditions—but He accomplished His goal because it was His will to do it.

So if you want to be rich with all your heart, you can make it happen, if that’s your passion.

If you want to be recognized of men, you can attain fame and recognition, too, one way or another, if that’s your passion.

If you want to save souls, you can—make it your passion, your driving force in life.

II Peter 2:20-22: if your passion is elsewhere, you will transgress, despite what you have learned, despite all your knowledge

". . . The difference between an honest man and a thief is not in what they know or think, but in how they feel on the subject of stealing."

What drives you forward?

All of this necessarily builds up the question for young people,

How do you form character? How do you shape passions?

HABIT

An act often repeated = habit

Habit often repeated = character

—once a branch is bent one direction, it can more easily bend that way a second time—that first bend is the most difficult, but then is gets easier and easier. But there’s always a first time. The point, young people, is, DON’T BEND THE BRANCH THAT DOESN’T NEED BENDING.

A. Now, I want you to take your character, this wad of dough, and break off a piece—this piece represents HARDSHIP—pain, illness, death, a bounced check, a ratty car, unemployment, disappointment.

Parents, this is a habit you can cultivate in your children. Expose them to the successes AND failures of life—it is sometimes the habit of parents to want to protect their children from the hard-knock facts of life—I’ve heard many of you mention that when your child feels pain, you simply wish that you could bear that hardship for them—but you might be doing them a disservice if you do. That can do more harm than good—it leaves you young people unprepared for a harsh, cruel world and the raw deals you will eventually face.

So, using your dough, here’s your character, here’s hardship, both are set. What happens to aged dough? It hardens. When we get out into the world and hardship comes along, what happens? It crumbles. We had a faith built on sunshine and roses, so when hardship comes along, we blame God, rather than rely more upon Him.

That world is as much a part of God’s plan as sunshine and roses—it should be a part of what builds your character.

--young people, go to funerals, visit the terminally ill, elderly—you’ll be more prepared to cope with hardship if you’ve built your faith around it

I want you to mix those hardships in around your character in your mind.

Making the facts of life a habitual part of your character is one way to prepare,

B. The other is setting forth habits that will determine who you travel through life WITH.

Yes, young people, we’ve come to the relationships segment of this youth-targeted lesson.

Which girl is Jerry most likely to date? We are not sure. We have seen good boys who, flattered by the attention of flirtatious girls, have made poor choices. And Jerry could make that mistake. But, knowing Jerry, we are quite sure that he will distinguish the girl who will make a great date from the one who will make a great wife, and will choose the latter.

Two vital questions remain to be asked. Girls, which one of the two girls correctly depicts you? Boys, which would you choose for a date? Young people who love the Lord choose mates that will help them to go to heaven.

[From Two Men . . . Articles on Practical Christian Living by Bill Hall, p.54.]

Now, boys, I want to make sure that you’ve recognized your responsibility in this . . . to stand as strong Christian men, discerning of the character of those whom you associate with, but I think Mr. Hall rightly placed the story in the light of the young ladies, for the same reason Sen. Carmack said these things of women:

"Many a man has been led by woman’s wiles into the jaws of death and the mouth of hell, and many a man has turned from the downward path of death to follow the shining raiment of the pure woman he loved until they passed through glory’s morning gate and walked in paradise."

"The sweetest wisdom of this world is a woman’s counsel, and the purest altar from which human prayer ever went to heaven is a mother’s knee."

Don’t for once ever trick yourself into believing that because you don’t direct worship you aren’t an important part of God’s scheme—because if you lack the confidence to perform good habits, the bad habits will creep in.

If practiced, a good habit can be as controlling as a BAD habit.

Think about our tree again. That GOOD branch is difficult to bend at first, it might be awkward, it takes some work—BUT once you get it started it comes easier and easier, just as the BAD branch over here.

Proverbs 23:7—habits start in the mind, manifest in the action

—but keep in mind, habit must not remain in the mind only

James 4:7—resistance is a driving force—you push evil away

Now say you empty your head of wicked thoughts and desires: what you have now is an empty space. And as we all know . . .

"Nature abhors a vacuum." "Idle hands are the devil’s playground."

Romans 12:21—it is an action taken

Once weeds have been cleared from a field, if nothing is planted in its place, what will happen? Weeds will grow back.

"Every period of your life has its own peculiar work which will be the foundation upon which to build the next."

Young people, build yourselves with knowledge, practice it with diligence for God, not man. Make Christ your driving passion in life. Form those habits by facing the hardships of life, by making godly decisions in your relationships. Drive those bad habits away with good ones.

You are at a crossroads.

While God’s divine plan is rooted in salvation of the lost, redemption—it is a tougher road to travel down the path of error, then backtrack and begin on the road to salvation, footsore and weary.

I want you to make one last thing with that imaginary dough, your character—take it, pound it flat, and imprint a cross on it.

Live for Christ. Be what He would have you be. Surrender your will to His and let this Master Craftsman do wonderful things with your life.