Title: I Don't Feel Like God is Saying Anything to Me Meta: What counsel do you have for young people who've been raised knowing the Gospel but don't feel that God is saying anything to them? Tags: bob jennings,children,salvation,repent,believe,word,of God,Salvation (Christianity) 1 00:00:00,900 --> 00:00:03,338 What counsel do you have for young people 2 00:00:03,338 --> 00:00:06,190 who have been raised knowing the Gospel 3 00:00:06,190 --> 00:00:08,499 and are desiring to be converted, 4 00:00:08,499 --> 00:00:10,145 but don't feel that God is saying 5 00:00:10,145 --> 00:00:15,992 anything to them? 6 00:00:24,845 --> 00:00:26,945 They've been raised up knowing the Gospel. 7 00:00:26,945 --> 00:00:30,793 They've been raised up knowing the Bible, knowing the truth. 8 00:00:30,793 --> 00:00:35,584 Don't take it for granted. 9 00:00:35,584 --> 00:00:38,600 Seek the Lord. 10 00:00:38,600 --> 00:00:39,894 Seek the Lord afresh. 11 00:00:39,894 --> 00:00:46,774 Seek the Lord as though 12 00:00:46,774 --> 00:00:52,422 everything was fresh, was real, was open. 13 00:00:52,422 --> 00:00:54,125 Make the Bible your own. 14 00:00:54,125 --> 00:00:55,932 Cry to God. 15 00:00:55,932 --> 00:00:58,922 Cry to God desparately. 16 00:00:58,922 --> 00:01:00,756 Cry to God really. 17 00:01:00,756 --> 00:01:02,376 Don't postpone anything. 18 00:01:02,376 --> 00:01:05,960 Don't put it off. 19 00:01:05,960 --> 00:01:07,177 God is saying something. 20 00:01:07,177 --> 00:01:10,792 He's speaking through the Word of God. 21 00:01:10,792 --> 00:01:12,392 You know, we're saved by faith, 22 00:01:12,392 --> 00:01:14,308 not by feeling, not by experience. 23 00:01:14,308 --> 00:01:17,733 When I was saved, 24 00:01:17,733 --> 00:01:20,818 the Lord had been speaking to me 25 00:01:20,818 --> 00:01:24,067 even though I didn't know it the winter before. 26 00:01:24,067 --> 00:01:25,640 I was getting sick of sin; 27 00:01:25,640 --> 00:01:27,909 sick of sinful friends. 28 00:01:27,909 --> 00:01:31,106 Sick of just, you know, what's the purpose of life? 29 00:01:31,106 --> 00:01:34,662 And so, my brother came down with the Gospel. 30 00:01:34,662 --> 00:01:37,141 He'd been converted two months before. 31 00:01:37,141 --> 00:01:39,885 I've shared this story... 32 00:01:39,885 --> 00:01:42,763 He came and I thought we were going to have fun, 33 00:01:42,763 --> 00:01:44,436 so to speak and chase, 34 00:01:44,436 --> 00:01:47,014 and he said no thanks, Bob, I'm not into that. 35 00:01:47,014 --> 00:01:48,792 I've found the Lord. 36 00:01:48,792 --> 00:01:50,087 And I could see by what he said 37 00:01:50,087 --> 00:01:53,452 and the way he said it that he was sincere and real. 38 00:01:53,452 --> 00:01:55,354 Something different had happened. 39 00:01:55,354 --> 00:01:57,316 We spent the next day and a half, 40 00:01:57,316 --> 00:01:58,932 he was opening the Scriptures, 41 00:01:58,932 --> 00:02:00,670 what little he knew of them to me, 42 00:02:00,670 --> 00:02:04,384 verses like John 3:7, "you must be born again." 43 00:02:04,384 --> 00:02:06,259 Verses like 1 Corinthians 10:31, 44 00:02:06,259 --> 00:02:08,892 "Whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, 45 00:02:08,892 --> 00:02:11,017 do all to the glory of God." 46 00:02:11,017 --> 00:02:14,699 These things, I didn't know Matthew, Mark, Luke or John; 47 00:02:14,699 --> 00:02:16,348 I didn't know anything, 48 00:02:16,348 --> 00:02:22,158 but I could see this is precious, 49 00:02:22,158 --> 00:02:23,857 this is real, this is different, 50 00:02:23,857 --> 00:02:25,357 I've never heard any of this. 51 00:02:25,357 --> 00:02:27,809 Whatever this new birth is, I don't have it. 52 00:02:27,809 --> 00:02:31,542 And, so anyway, what I'm saying is, 53 00:02:31,542 --> 00:02:34,305 when he left that Sunday night, 54 00:02:34,305 --> 00:02:37,681 he left me with some gospel tracts. 55 00:02:37,681 --> 00:02:39,450 I didn't know how to pray. 56 00:02:39,450 --> 00:02:42,333 I prayed the prayer on the back of those tracts. 57 00:02:42,333 --> 00:02:45,159 And I was sincere. 58 00:02:45,159 --> 00:02:47,559 Behind the scenes, it was God. 59 00:02:47,559 --> 00:02:49,985 But I was sincere. I wanted the Lord. 60 00:02:49,985 --> 00:02:52,332 I didn't want to be left out. 61 00:02:52,332 --> 00:02:54,584 I knew I was a sinner 62 00:02:54,584 --> 00:02:55,601 in need of a Savior. 63 00:02:55,601 --> 00:02:57,685 I was going to miss it all. 64 00:02:57,685 --> 00:03:02,180 So I just prayed that prayer on the back of those tracts. 65 00:03:02,180 --> 00:03:04,583 There wasn't any flashes of light. 66 00:03:04,583 --> 00:03:07,422 There wasn't any experience whatsoever. 67 00:03:07,422 --> 00:03:12,350 But that was the beginning of life. 68 00:03:12,350 --> 00:03:14,127 That was the beginning. 69 00:03:14,127 --> 00:03:18,371 And there wasn't any experience there. 70 00:03:18,371 --> 00:03:22,099 You just start out taking God at His Word. 71 00:03:22,099 --> 00:03:25,375 God said it, and Lord, I'm going to believe, 72 00:03:25,375 --> 00:03:28,251 and I do believe that You exist, 73 00:03:28,251 --> 00:03:29,646 I believe that You're a rewarder of those 74 00:03:29,646 --> 00:03:31,110 who diligently seek You. 75 00:03:31,110 --> 00:03:33,623 I believe if I seek You, I'll find You. 76 00:03:33,623 --> 00:03:35,179 And I'm not giving up. 77 00:03:35,179 --> 00:03:37,383 I'm going this way. I'm not looking back. 78 00:03:37,383 --> 00:03:39,028 I'm going to heaven. 79 00:03:39,028 --> 00:03:41,825 I don't care what anybody says. 80 00:03:41,825 --> 00:03:44,856 I don't care what my parents, so to speak, 81 00:03:44,856 --> 00:03:47,578 what ground they've taken. 82 00:03:47,578 --> 00:03:50,611 I'm going to have to take it myself. 83 00:03:50,611 --> 00:03:52,769 And so I'm going this way, 84 00:03:52,769 --> 00:03:54,801 I'm not turning back, 85 00:03:54,801 --> 00:03:56,862 I'm going to believe Christ, follow Him, 86 00:03:56,862 --> 00:03:59,007 all the way. 87 00:03:59,007 --> 00:04:03,358 You do that, and you'll make it to heaven. 88 00:04:03,358 --> 00:04:06,667 You take that attitude, young man, young woman, 89 00:04:06,667 --> 00:04:08,550 and you'll end up in heaven. 90 00:04:08,550 --> 00:04:13,698 You're going to have to put all your eggs in one basket. 91 00:04:13,698 --> 00:04:17,598 Rise up and get desparate. 92 00:04:17,598 --> 00:04:20,489 Quit fiddling around. 93 00:04:20,489 --> 00:04:22,664 Do business with God yourself. 94 00:04:22,664 --> 00:04:25,335 No excuses. 95 00:04:25,335 --> 00:04:27,744 That can be just an excuse 96 00:04:27,744 --> 00:04:29,672 that God's not saying anything to me. 97 00:04:29,672 --> 00:04:31,518 He is saying something to you. 98 00:04:31,518 --> 00:04:33,099 It's in the book right there. 99 00:04:33,099 --> 00:04:34,133 He's talking. 100 00:04:34,133 --> 00:04:37,838 God's commanding all men everywhere to repent. 101 00:04:37,838 --> 00:04:39,913 He's shouting it from the streets, 102 00:04:39,913 --> 00:04:43,211 He's shouting it from the rooftops. 103 00:04:43,211 --> 00:04:47,213 Everywhere, the voice of God is speaking, right? 104 00:04:47,213 --> 00:04:52,004 And He's saying come on, repent, turn to Me. 105 00:04:52,004 --> 00:04:55,177 It says He's commanding all men. 106 00:04:55,177 --> 00:04:57,377 Commanding men to turn from darkness to light. 107 00:04:57,377 --> 00:04:58,880 Commanding us to repent. 108 00:04:58,880 --> 00:05:01,098 And so it's not like God is silent. 109 00:05:01,098 --> 00:05:02,285 Not at all. 110 00:05:02,285 --> 00:05:05,296 It's not like God is suggesting, 111 00:05:05,296 --> 00:05:07,469 it's not like He's advising, 112 00:05:07,469 --> 00:05:10,553 it's not like He's giving us an opinion. 113 00:05:10,553 --> 00:05:12,651 He's commanding all men, 114 00:05:12,651 --> 00:05:15,162 that includes children and parents right? 115 00:05:15,162 --> 00:05:17,113 Commanding them to repent 116 00:05:17,113 --> 00:05:18,946 and do business with God. 117 00:05:18,946 --> 00:05:20,846 And so, young man, young woman, 118 00:05:20,846 --> 00:05:23,309 you're under command right now 119 00:05:23,309 --> 00:05:24,827 whether you think it, know it or not, 120 00:05:24,827 --> 00:05:26,331 you've got a job to do, 121 00:05:26,331 --> 00:05:28,147 you've got an obligation, 122 00:05:28,147 --> 00:05:30,526 you've got a God that made you, 123 00:05:30,526 --> 00:05:32,920 and to Him you owe 124 00:05:32,920 --> 00:05:35,173 your life, your breath, your strength. 125 00:05:35,173 --> 00:05:38,020 You've got a Savior that died for sinners just like you. 126 00:05:38,020 --> 00:05:40,365 Why not take the position of being a sinner? 127 00:05:40,365 --> 00:05:42,796 Say, "God, be merciful to me, a sinner." 128 00:05:42,796 --> 00:05:45,653 Beat your breast and get low, 129 00:05:45,653 --> 00:05:48,119 come on, get down where you belong. 130 00:05:48,119 --> 00:05:54,003 Grace is like water, it runs to the low spot. 131 00:05:54,003 --> 00:05:57,826 So humble yourself under the mighty hand of God, 132 00:05:57,826 --> 00:06:02,296 He'll exalt you in due season. 133 00:06:02,296 --> 00:06:06,688 Look at Saul of Tarsus, 134 00:06:06,688 --> 00:06:09,605 he was, so to speak, raised with the Bible, 135 00:06:09,605 --> 00:06:14,987 and God saved him and used him. 136 00:06:14,987 --> 00:06:19,889 It's not a disadvantage, surely it can't be, 137 00:06:19,889 --> 00:06:22,781 to grow up in a Christian household. 138 00:06:22,781 --> 00:06:25,863 It's not a disadvantage. 139 00:06:25,863 --> 00:06:28,122 You've got a privilege, an opportunity, 140 00:06:28,122 --> 00:06:30,331 to stand on your parents' shoulders 141 00:06:30,331 --> 00:06:33,338 and go on from there and see things they never saw, 142 00:06:33,338 --> 00:06:35,438 do things they never did. 143 00:06:35,438 --> 00:06:38,023 You've got a running head start, you might say. 144 00:06:38,023 --> 00:06:44,269 Don't look at it as a disadvantage at all. 145 00:06:44,269 --> 00:06:47,304 That's always the dilemma. 146 00:06:47,304 --> 00:06:50,884 John 3 starts out talking about the new birth. 147 00:06:50,884 --> 00:06:52,754 But He ends up that interview with Nicodemus 148 00:06:52,754 --> 00:06:56,164 talking about saving faith in John 3:16. 149 00:06:56,164 --> 00:06:58,821 So it's always a dilemma. 150 00:06:58,821 --> 00:07:02,452 Do I as a parent counsel my child? 151 00:07:02,452 --> 00:07:04,372 Tell him you need an experience? 152 00:07:04,372 --> 00:07:08,339 You've just got superficial faith, 153 00:07:08,339 --> 00:07:11,761 you need an experience, you need to be born again; 154 00:07:11,761 --> 00:07:13,655 do you tell them that? Or, 155 00:07:13,655 --> 00:07:16,543 do we tell them John 3:16? 156 00:07:16,543 --> 00:07:20,948 Don't look for an experience - just believe God. 157 00:07:20,948 --> 00:07:23,177 And there's no answer - I don't think. 158 00:07:23,177 --> 00:07:27,201 I mean, yes a parent can discern sometimes 159 00:07:27,201 --> 00:07:30,205 what a child needs and advise him that way. 160 00:07:30,205 --> 00:07:32,808 Sometimes you just don't know what to tell 161 00:07:32,808 --> 00:07:36,404 your child; all you can tell him is you seek the Lord. 162 00:07:36,404 --> 00:07:39,340 The message for the non-Christian 163 00:07:39,340 --> 00:07:41,604 and the message for the Christian is the same. 164 00:07:41,604 --> 00:07:46,025 That's "seek the Lord."