R855 The Teen Commitments

God has an encouraging word for you and me today through the Bible-based teaching of Dr. Don Wilton and a message on the Teen Commandments. And yes, this was shared originally with students graduating high school, but you need to know the Teen Commandments are just as applicable to me, a grandfather, as it was to them. Let's open God's encouraging word together now with Dr. Don Wilton. How many of you wish that you could go back and graduate all over again?

I don't want anybody raising their hands because I do believe we will have a split vote on the subject. I will be quite honest with you, even though I graduated over 35 years ago myself, there is a part of me that wishes I could go back, but there's a part of me that doesn't wish that at all. Because as I look back upon my life, I see both the good and the not so good. When I look back, I wish that I could do a whole lot of things all over again. And I wish that I could do some things a whole lot better than I did when I first began.

I want to share with you this morning the Teen Commitments, the Teen Commitments. Open your Bibles to Psalm 101. Now David was the one who wrote and sang these songs. I wish that I could take you on a journey back into the life of this man who became king. I know some of the stories about his growing up years. I believe perhaps he graduated when he took that little pebble and he slayed the giant Goliath.

He became king. But David's life was filled with things that caused him great grief. There were many things that David did that displeased the heart of God.

And when David wrote this psalm, which I believe was sung, this is what he said. I will sing of your love and justice to you, O Lord, I will sing praise. I will be careful to lead a blameless life.

When will you come to me? I will walk in my house with a blameless heart. I will set before my eyes no vile thing. The deeds of faithless men I hate.

They will not cling to me. Men of perverse heart shall be far from me. I will have nothing to do with evil. Whoever slanders his neighbor in secret, him will I put to silence. Whoever has haughty eyes and a proud heart, him will I not endure. My eyes will be on the faithful in the land that they may dwell with me. He whose walk is blameless will minister to me. No one who practices deceit will dwell in my house. No one who speaks falsely will stand in my presence. Every morning I will put to silence all the wicked in the land.

And I will cut off every evildoer from the city of the Lord. I wish that I could go back and graduate all over again because I find life to be wonderful. God has blessed me in life and I have so much for which to thank the Lord.

And yet at the same time, I would not want to go back to graduation because I'm looking back with hindsight. Young people, I want to share with you this morning what I call the teen commitments. There are five of them. And I'm going to submit to you that if you listen carefully to what God has to say in his words and you write these things upon your heart, I truly believe that God is going to bless you in a way that perhaps you cannot even begin to imagine. Here they are, number one, number one. I will always praise God in everything.

Here it is, commitment number one. I will always praise God in everything. Now, here in the first two verses, David, who was looking back upon his life, put it into the rightful perspective. He said, I will sing of your love and justice to you, O Lord, I will sing praise. We are a people who are made or designed to offer praise. By the way, did you know that the ultimate purpose for which God created you and I was to praise him? Now, we are a praise giving people.

If you take someone like myself and men just like me, just come and observe the average football stadium during football season. I have no problem giving praise. I have no problem entering into a time of praise and worship. How about you?

Go to Dormant High, Chapman or Burns or Spartanburg. Go and watch those games. See what happens. Take note of what happened when teams win state titles and championships. I've seen grown men just like myself have very little problem offering praise and worship. I have no problem going into a stadium and standing up there and gesturing and pointing, singing.

I even enter into a time of unmitigated praise and worship. I'll sing along with the best of them. I'll get up there and I'll even conduct the whole team. I'll point at them. I'll yell. I'll enjoy every single minute of it. There are men and women just like you and me.

We're designed that way. Folks, I love to praise so much. You just want to watch me going fishing. You know that when I catch a fish, I praise the fish. And then I tell all those in the boat with me to praise the fish too. I invite the congregation to participate. I have no problem doing that.

I have no problem when I drain a pot that's 20 inches long or 20 feet long. And I have no problem giving high fives, praise and worship. But something happens when men like you and I come into the house of God. I call it hookworms.

I don't know what hookworms are, but they're awful things. I've seen grown men who will spend anything, do anything, go anywhere. They will enter into a spirit of praise and worship, accepting when it comes to the things of God. Here's what the Bible says. The Bible says that God inhabits what? The praise of his people.

I don't know about you, but I want God to inhabit the very fabric of my life. And here the psalmist is talking about this. He's not just talking about praising when you're on the mountaintop, but praising God when you're in the deepest valley. Paul put it like this. He said, I have learned that in whatsoever state I am, therewith to be content. Did you know that spiritual contentment is spiritual worship?

It is saying, I praise you, O God, because you are everything and I'm nothing. You have given me everything. Everything that I have comes from you. Are you ready to make that commitment today? Teen commitment number one, I will always praise God in everything. Number two, I will not mess my life up.

Commitment number two, I will not mess my life up. Have you ever gone back to your graduating class, whether it's 20 years ago or 25 or 15 years ago, and you look at those pictures and you look into the faces of those students that graduated alongside of you. Now, folks, I'm not talking about the aging process. All of us are getting older and a little rounder and all the other things that go on. But you know, when you look into the face of that person who graduated with you and you say, what in earth happened to them?

What in the world could have happened to that person between the time we graduated and now? I want to show you something rather interesting here in Psalm 101. Do you know that David writing upon reflection, looking back upon his life, he points to three things here in this passage. Number one, he points to the heart in verse two. Number two, he points to the eyes in verse three, the first part.

Number three, he points to deeds. When he points to the heart, he's talking about the spirit. When he points to the eyes, he's talking about the mind. And when he points to deeds, he's talking about the body. When he points to the heart, he's talking about the spirit, which has to do with my spiritual relationship with God. When he points to the eyes, he's referring to my mind, which has to do with my study, the things that I am studying about. And number three, when he points to deeds, he's pointing to the body, which is a direct reference to my physical wellbeing. My book, which was released last year, totally secure. I'm grateful to say has sold thousands of copies.

I've heard as many references to the last chapter of totally secure as anything else that I wrote in that book. What did I write about? The three most critical issues facing any person.

Here they are, are you ready? Faith, family, and fitness. Now watch this folks, watch this. Faith, family, and fitness.

If you, after you graduate, succumb, mess up, in one of those three areas or any of those three areas, your whole life is going to be marred by the scars of the things that you have done. Why faith? Because it's all about the Lord Jesus Christ.

He's the centerpiece on the mantelpiece. Life without the Lord is nothing. What about family? Our families are so precious. God has given to us one another.

I'm so grateful to these two young ladies who just a moment ago spoke about what it means to be a part, not only of a blood family, but a Christian family like this. What about fitness? Now folks, I'm going to tell you something. In America today, we're killing ourselves.

We spend as much time eating junk food and sitting on our couches doing nothing as anything else you can possibly imagine. I cannot tell you what a difference it makes in my life when I go to the Nautilus Fitness Center or hang around my friend John Langford or I'm around people or take my wife for a walk on a Saturday afternoon or do some small little kind of exercise. I promise you as far as Don Wilton is concerned, when I have just a little bit of exercise, and yes, when I try to discipline myself and I turn down those French fries that I love so much and I stop consuming all those junk drinks that we drink and when I stop loading down my baked potato with cheese and everything else in between and when I stop eating all these things that we Americans are feasting ourselves upon and we love to do it and I'm as guilty as anybody else so don't sit there and look at me like you've arrived and I haven't. I want you to know it does something for me. I feel so much better. I graduated some 35 years ago. I feel as though I've been on diet for 35 years, don't you? Folks, listen to me.

Faith, family, fitness. If I was to be real negative now with you graduates, I would beg you to make a commitment that you will not mess up your life. Do you know what the statisticians tell us, don't you?

That there's at least one of you sitting out here today that five, six, seven years from now, God's not going to smell you for dust. Statistics tell us there's at least one man among you here that you're gonna marry a beautiful lady and you're gonna cheat on her. You're gonna destroy your family. You're gonna break up your marriage. You're gonna leave a trail of disaster.

You're gonna do it for one minute's pleasure. You know that there's some of you sitting here today that 10, 15, 20 years from now, you're gonna have every ache and pain known to the book. You're gonna be fighting it at every turn. Your clothes cannot fit you.

You're gonna feel down, depressed, headaches, can't get up in the morning. Don't know what to do with yourself. Up one minute, down the next, it takes a commitment. It takes a commitment. I called my eldest son, Rob, not too long ago. Said him, I've said it to both my sons.

My son, I said, Rob, you played basketball for Dorman High School and you did this and you did that and you were super fit. Son, don't let it go. Don't let it go.

Make a commitment to not mess up. And let me tell you something, folks. It can happen just like that.

Just like that. I believe the Chinese are beating us at our own game. You know where the Chinese are putting all their money today?

Into engineering, science, mathematics. They're educating their future generations. They're pouring their money into the things that count, the arts and literature.

Do you know why they're putting their money there? Because they're not having to spend it on health recovery like we're doing in the United States of America. Our problem is not how to pay for the bills. Our problem is how are we going to take care of ourselves and what is taking place, my friend, is we are one nation serving four generations, like we are one church serving four generations.

The Chinese are one nation serving one generation. Make a commitment. I don't fear for America today like I do for America tomorrow. And you are tomorrow, my precious graduates. We depend upon you.

Our grandchildren are going to look to you. Make a commitment, number one, that you will always praise God in everything. Make a commitment that you will not mess up. Making commitments.

Oh, that's what it's all about. Forgive the interruption. We'll be back in just a moment, but Dr. Don wants me to remind you we're here to pray with you anytime at 866-899-WORD. Jot the number down. Store it in your cell, 866-899-9673, or meet us online at our website, www.tewonline.org, where you'll discover great resources like this. My book, Saturdays with Billy, is about an extraordinary relationship with a precious man who impacted lives across the world. You don't want to miss this opportunity to be inspired by his life, too. Again, call for your copy at 866-899-WORD.

That's 866-899-9673, or meet us online at tewonline.org. Now back to today's great teaching with Dr. Don Wilton. You've got to make a decision. You've got to decide what is of value in your life. David here, this man who became king, looked back and he said, listen, oh God, I'm so grateful that you love me like this because if you didn't love me like this, I could never begin again.

I could never begin again. There are three things I believe you and I ought never to forget. Number one, you become what you eat. Number two, you believe what you see. Number three, you behave what you think. There it is, body, soul, and mind.

You become what you eat and you believe what you see and you behave what you think. Make a commitment. I tell you, there is no greater joy than getting into your 40s, into your 50s, into your 60s, into your 70s and being able to look back. Your children to rise up and say, boy, I thank mom and dad because they have loved one another. They've stood by their commitments. I can be proud of my grandparents. They've gone through thick and thin, but they've remained firm in the commitments that they've made. When you look back and you say, oh yes, I've grown older and my body is tired and weak, but I've done my best to stay healthy and I'm of a sound mind.

When you can look back on your life and say, I have lived a life trying my best to serve my Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ. Commitment number three, I will avoid ungodly people. I will avoid ungodly people.

Now watch this, folks. In verses four and five and verse seven, David gives us a character, disposition of ungodly behaviour. What does he talk about? Perversion, evil, slander, just another word for defamation. Arrogance, that's that word haughty there. Pride, deceit, gossip.

What does he say about it? I will not endure. I will put to silence.

I will not have these things in my presence. We've got a serious problem today, my beloved graduates. You take our college campuses. We've got some of the finest schools that the world has ever seen. On one of the greatest schools in America today, a school that I admire, I love to watch them, wished I could have gone and graduated from the school. This school today is facing unprecedented, unwanted publicity of the highest order.

I can guarantee you, Duke University never rolled out of bed one morning and said, you know, I'd love to have this kind of publicity. Turn on your television set. Listen to the talk shows, the debates. They're all talking about the criminal behaviour and they ought to be doing so. There is no justification for criminal behaviour of any form and right now there is a pursuit for justice. These are alleged activities. The jury is still out. The debate today is did they or didn't they? But that's not the issue.

The issue, my friend, is that one of the strongest and most powerful and most reputable universities in the world has allowed a behaviour to permeate and cultivate. The issue is what are people doing in places like this? What about the alcohol? What about the messages? What about the food? What about the alcohol? What about the messages?

What about the seed bed that is the fertile ground for these things to take place? What are people doing there? What kind of activities are they engaged in?

America is so bent on talking about everything, accepting the issue at hand. Young people, trust me, you're going to some of the finest universities in the world. Well, we've got them in South Carolina.

I love them, I love going there, watching ball games and I can scream and shout along with the best of them. But every campus you go on to, there are going to be people who are going to beckon to you to come and join them. You've got to make a decision.

You've got to make a decision. I'll guarantee you one thing, you're going to hear people say, well, look, I'll tell you what I'm going to do. I'm going to join that club, but I'm not going to participate in their activities.

I'm going to go to that party, but I'm not going to drink. Folks, we've got every kind of rationalization going on in America today. And there are tragedies after tragedies after tragedies. I've had people sit in my office and say to me, pastor, I didn't mean to actually have sex with that person.

It just happened. And now my whole marriage is gone. My children's lives are destroyed.

Watch this, guys. I will always praise God in everything. I will not mess my life up. I will avoid ungodly people. Someone said to me, one time you become who you hang around with.

But I love number four. I will gravitate toward godly people. That's what verse six is all about. My eyes will be on the faithful in the land that they may dwell with me. He whose walk is blameless will minister to me. That's an incredible statement. That's what you are bearing witness to today. Boy, I look into your faces, you know.

You guys walk across your hell for a while and all of you, man, said I'd never call a name and here I call a name. I mean all of you guys, I love you so much. Every one of you can get up and testify to that circle in your church, your grandparents. Man, we would be without our grandparents. Our family, our friends, our church, our youth ministers.

Where would we be? Here's what the Bible says. You gotta make a commitment to the church.

You gotta make a commitment to gravitate toward people like this. And you know what, the Bible tells us how to do it. David tells us how to do it. Here's how you gravitate toward godly people. Number one, move toward.

It's what he says, your eyes need to focus on them. Move toward. Number two, invite in. And number three, listen to.

That's what he tells us here in these verses. You wanna surround yourself with godly people, there are three commitments you make about that. Number one, that you are going to move toward people that are going to what?

Build you up and not break you down. Number two, you're going to invite them in. Friend, listen, you've got to actively invite people to participate in your life.

It is a deliberate choice. And number three, listen to them. So you've got three things, moving toward, inviting in, and listening. You know, those of us who are parents, we say, well, you know, we brought up our children and how many times have we been around Papa or Mimi or whoever it is and we sit there and there's so much godly advice and we say, well, I've graduated now, there's nobody else to move toward to invite in and to listen to.

You're wrong. They're on every college campus. They're in every church, every community.

You take the community of Spartanburg. They're all over. They're all over.

They're all over the place. All right, watch this. Number one, I will always praise God in everything. Number two, I will not mess my life up. Number three, I will avoid ungodly people. Number four, I will gravitate toward godly people. All right, here it is.

Number five, the fifth teen commitment. I will make needed decisions. I will make needed decisions. I love verse eight. Every morning I will put to silence all the wicked in the land. I will cut off every evildoer from the city of the Lord.

Such powerful teaching from the pulpit with Dr. Don Wilton now as he steps into the studio, open your heart to what he wants to share next. Are you ready to give your heart and life to the Lord Jesus Christ? Why don't you pray this prayer with me right now? Dear God, I know that I'm a sinner, and I know that Jesus died for me on the cross. Today I repent of my sin, and by faith I receive you into my heart. In Jesus' name. My friend, I welcome you today into the family of God.

This is exciting news. If you just gave your life to Jesus, oh, how Dr. Don wants to rejoice with you and give you free resources to help you grow. You can call us right now with your decision to follow Christ for the first time or rededicate your life at 866-899-WORD. Jot this number down, 866-899-9673. Call for your free resources today or ask for them on our website at www.tewonline.org. That's T-E-W online dot O-R-G.