Convictions

I'd like to read in the book of Genesis, chapter 37. The book of Genesis, chapter 37. We'll read verse number 2, Genesis chapter 37, verse number 2. These are the generations of Jacob.

Joseph, being seventeen years old, was feeding the flock with his brethren. And the lad was with the sons of Bilah, and with the sons of Zilpah, his father's wives. And Joseph brought unto his father their evil report.

Now Israel loved Joseph more than all his children, because he was the son of his old age. It made him a coat of many colours. And when his brethren saw that their father loved him more than all his brethren, they hated him, and could not speak peaceably unto him.

Back to the twelfth chapter, Genesis chapter 12. Just for a verse, verse number 4. Genesis chapter 12, verse 4. So Abram departed as the Lord had spoken unto him, and Lot went with him. And Abram was seventy and five years old when he departed out of Haran.

Now over to chapter 16. Genesis chapter 16, verse number 1 for context. Now Sarai, Abram's wife, bare him no children.

She had a handmaiden Egyptian whose name was Hagar. Verse 15. And Hagar bare Abram a son, and Abram called his son's name which Hagar bare Ishmael.

Abram was fourscore and six years old when Hagar bare Ishmael to Abram. And when Abram was ninety years old and nine, the Lord appeared to Abram and said unto him, I am the Almighty God, walk before me, and be thou perfect, and I will make my covenant between me and thee, and will multiply thee exceedingly. And Abram fell on his face, and God talked with him, saying, As for me, behold, my covenant is with thee.

Thou shalt be a father of many nations, neither shall thy name any more be called Abram, but thy name shall be called Abraham, for a father of many nations have I made thee. And I will make thee exceeding fruitful, and will make nations of thee, and kings shall come out of thee. And I'll establish my covenant between me and thee, and thy seed after thee, and their generations, for an everlasting covenant to be a God unto thee, and to thy seed after thee.

Verse number 15, And God said unto Abraham, As for Sarai thy wife, thou shalt not call her name Sarai, but Sarah shall be her name, and I will bless her, and give thee a son also of her. Yea, I will bless her, and she shall be a mother of nations, kings of people shall be of her. Then Abraham fell on his face and laughed, and said in his heart, Shall a child be born unto him that is a hundred years old, and shall Sarah that is ninety years old bear? No wonder he started to laugh.

One final portion in Joshua chapter 14. Joshua chapter 14, and we'll read verse number 6. Then the children of Judah came unto Joshua and Gilgal, and Caleb the son of Jephunneh the Kenizzite said unto him, Thou knowest the thing that the Lord sent unto Moses the man of God concerning me and thee in Kadesh Barnea. Forty years old was I when Moses the servant of the Lord sent me from Kadesh Barnea to espy out the land, and I brought him word again as it was in mine heart.

Nevertheless my brethren that went up with me made the heart of the people melt. But I wholly followed the Lord my God, and Moses swear on that day saying, Surely the land whereon thy feet have trodden shall be thine inheritance and thy children's forever, because thou hast wholly followed the Lord my God. And now behold the Lord hath kept me alive, as he said, these forty and five years, even since the Lord spake this word unto Moses, while the children of Israel wandered in the wilderness.

And now, lo, I am this day fourscore and five years old, as yet I am as strong this day as I was in the day that Moses sent me. As my strength was then, even so is my strength now for war, both to go out and to come in. Now therefore give me this mountain, whereupon the Lord spake in that day, for thou heardest in that day how the Anakins were there, the cities were great and fenced.

If so be the Lord will be with me, then I shall be able to drive them out, as the Lord said. And Joshua blessed him, and gave unto Caleb the son of Jephunneh, Hebron for inheritance. Hebron therefore became the inheritance of Caleb, the son of Jephunneh, the Kenazite, unto this day, because that he wholly followed the Lord God.

God of Israel. We've read a great deal, and I would just like to take a very slim slice from these three passages. We've read of some, what I call, singular years along the road of life.

Brother Murray mentioned this morning, he was right in saying that, that man counts in terms of years, but God counts in terms of days. That's God's reckoning. Interesting, as you look at the Gospel of Luke, you find that there are singular days mentioned.

This day is salvation come to this house. Bring you good tidings this day, and so on. But in the midst of these singular days, we find that God takes note of some pivotal years.

It's interesting when you look at the scriptures that there are some dates, or there are some time periods put to the lives of men and women. When you come to Enoch, the big day was when he turned 65, when Methuselah was born. It was a turning point.

Very likely the day he was saved, or the moment he was saved, because at the age of 65, for the next 300 years, he walked with God. A turning point. An outstanding year in Enoch's life.

Of course, when it comes to Moses, 40 years in the palace, 40 years in the wilderness, 40 years leading God's people. It's interesting that his life is divided into 340s. And of course, when it comes to the King Josiah, he began to reign when he was eight.

And then at 16, a teenager, he began to seek the God of his father, David. A conversion experience when he was 16. It's not unusual for teenagers to get saved.

In fact, the older you get, as we well know, the fewer there are that come to know the Savior. And of course, at 26, 10 years later, that momentous event took place where they found the old book. And a man comes rushing back to the King.

He says, I found the book. And as Josiah 26 reads and has the book open to him, we find that he tears his garment as he realizes the sin of the nation in view of this book. So there are singular years.

There are important years. It just makes me aware that age, age is important to God. And we don't like to talk about age.

My mother's living in a rest home, retirement home, and one of the signs on the door across from her is a little slogan. Age is a matter of the mind. If you don't mind, it doesn't matter.

And I think we can appreciate that. My father passed away a year and a half ago at 99. And a couple of years before that, he attended a birthday party for an 80-year-old.

So a 97-year-old talking to an 80-year-old, he pats her on the shoulder and he says, it must be nice to be young. It's a bit relative, isn't it? It's a hard thing to figure out that sometimes people can stay longer in an hour at our place than others can stay in a week. I can't figure it out.

And I can't understand why two weeks on a diet seems so much longer than two weeks on a cruise. It just does not add up. But we have read this afternoon about some of the snapshots of three individuals' lives.

I want to just take a very small segment of these lives. I'll assume that you are well aware of them. We've been hearing of Peter.

We find that there is a young man, 17 years of age. There is something outstanding that marks that man at 17. I just call it resolve or conviction.

Resolve at 17. I'm glad to see young people here, teenagers. And I trust that there are many of you that are saved already.

Because to me, these are critical years. And what marked Joseph at 17 was this spiritual resolve. I'm going to live for God.

We've read of another man at the age of 99. Now, just to put it into context, I call this a midlife crisis. He was going to live for another 76 years.

So he was at maybe about 45 or 50 in terms of 70 years. Midlife, or some of us once were. Some of you are there.

Midlife crisis. But we find that this man has made a mess of things, a real mess. And it could well be that Abram said, I'm just going to have to live with it.

I've made my bed. I'm going to have to live the rest of my life with second best. And yet we find at the age of 99, there was restoration.

Restoration at 99. This would be a great conference if there was restoration, regardless of what age you are. We've been reminded that we're all in need of cleansing, of restoration, of recovery.

And here's a man at 99, and there was recovery that marked him. We find in Joshua chapter 14 that there was an 85-year-old man. I don't know if there's anybody 85 here.

But this man came to the presence of Joshua with a request. Joshua, give me this mountain. I have looked at this mountain for long.

It's been on my heart, on my mind, on my soul. The time has come. Give me this mountain.

A request at 85. I think that kind of takes all of us in, doesn't it? Teenage boy, man in midlife, an older believer. And so I want to know, it's just very, very simply, resolve at 17, restoration, recovery at 99, a request at 85.

Interesting that the Bible takes up Joseph's story at 17. You know, sometimes we don't give credit to young people. We kind of think, well, they're really young to really make a mark.

Let them live a few years. The Bible doesn't use those kind of terms. And here's a young man at 17, and he's already charted a course that's going to end up in wonderful blessing.

To me, when I think of 17, I think of what I call the big 10, critical years in our life. I'm not exactly sure how to draw this, whether it's from 15 to 25 or 16 to 26. But to me, there are 10 big years where most of life's big decisions are made, big years, critical years.

Let me just give you some of the facets of those years. In those years, those 10 years, most will complete high school, likely go to college, university, go into some kind of a training program. You'll chart your course for employment.

You'll get a driver's license. You'll buy your first car, maybe two or three. You'll likely have a boyfriend or a girlfriend, and some of you will even get married.

Some of you will start a family during those 10 years. A lot of those young people will have to rent an apartment or buy a condo or even plunge into the house buying experience. Those 10 years will bring an encounter with drugs.

You'll decide whether you're going to smoke or drink or whether you're going to abstain. You'll face tremendous moral issues. Am I going to remain pure? Am I going to be a fornicator? We've been hearing of that.

You'll certainly encounter pornography, not just on the bookstands, but on the Internet in a variety of other ways. Some of you during those 10 years will get a permanent job. Some of you will look for work.

Some of you during those years will conclude that your parents know nothing. And during those same years, you might even come to the conclusion that maybe your parents know a little bit. You will discover that money goes out a lot faster than it comes in, a big discovery.

A lot of those 10 years, a lot of people in those 10 years will hear the gospel and trust Christ, get baptized, come into the assembly. Others will turn away, will disappear into the world, turn their back on God. A lot of you in those 10 years will spend hours if not days and weeks and months on MSN and Facebook and Twitter and all the other names.

But those 10 years will bring big issues, big decisions, big changes. To me, they are the big 10. And what you determine in those 10 years will chart your course for the rest of your life.

Now, I know that's not always the case, but those are pivotal years. And here's a young man at 17, and he's facing the big realities of life. What is the critical need of those 10 years? Spiritually speaking, there's the need for resolve, or could I say for convictions, beliefs, principles, truths that will guide you through life.

In fact, I wrote a definition down for conviction. Convictions are beliefs or principles or resolves that are strong enough to make me resist the pressure to go contrary to them and strong enough to govern my actions by them. Let me just put it very simply.

Convictions are truths that will hold me and will mold me. Got it? Hold me and mold me. Now, there's a big difference between convictions and opinions, aren't there? Convictions or opinions are the products of my head.

Convictions are the dictates of my heart. Opinions will change according to circumstances. You think one thing one way, and one day and the next day, it's all changed.

But convictions will affect the person, will change him. Opinions will change, but convictions will change the person. When it comes to opinions, a person will argue for them.

When it comes to convictions, a person will die for them. And opinions are many times held with kind of a dubious evidence. Well, I think that's right.

I think that's what I've heard. Convictions are the fact of I know this. I know this.

I'm going to hold on to this. And here's a young man, as we well know, and at 17, he was a man marked by convictions. I'm not going to go into his story because that's not my burden here today.

But we find that here's a young man, and he understood that there were things that were worth living for, that God has spoken to him, that a purpose in life had been manifested to him. That there were eternal realities that were worth living for, that God's will was good. And despite all the challenges that subsequent years brought, and he had a difficult time, here's a young man, and he held on to them.

Because, you see, when it comes to these convictions that will hold me and mold me, we need to understand that God and his kingdom must come first. Seek ye first the kingdom of God and his righteousness. And so as we look at ourselves, and some of us are not 17 anymore.

We wish we were at times, and other times we're glad we're not. But anyway, what are we seeking for? Seek ye first the kingdom of God and his righteousness. The eternal must take precedence over the temporary.

What is seen as eternal, what is seen as temporal, what is not seen as eternal. Let me ask you, what world are you living for? There are so many things that are visual, aren't there? And they're so appealing, and they're so enticing, and they're so real. It takes a man and a woman of conviction to live for the unseen, and yet the eternal.

When it comes to convictions, the spiritual must take precedence over the material. And the Lord Jesus said it so plainly and so tersely, lay up not for yourselves treasures on earth where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal, but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven. And he says, where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.

So really the location of our treasure is the barometer of the state of our soul. Where is your treasure? It's where your treasure is. That's where your heart will be also.

I think another principle, another underlining facet of conviction involves the fact that people must take precedence over things. We are so materialistically conscious, aren't we? Things, possessions, things grab a hold of us. And sometimes we use people to get things.

But in the scriptural sense, people have eternal value. In fact, the words of the Lord Jesus that we often quote in the gospel, and rightly so, but it just makes us aware, what will a profit a man if he gained the whole world and lose his own soul? Everything that's material is only temporary. The soul is eternal.

And so today, here's a young man, and he was marked by a resolve, by convictions. It affected his character. It affected his confidence.

It affected his consecration. And as we look at this amazing teenager's life, what sustained Joseph through all of the adversity and all of the trials, all of the unknown, the unwanted, the undesirable, the unrighteousness that came his way? What kept him? What held him? Was the reality that God had spoken to him. God had conveyed truth to this man, and he says, I'm going to hold on to that.

Resolve, 17. I trust there'll be young people here, teenagers, and there'll be this deep-seated conviction based on God's words that will run along with God's will for your life, and you'll live for God's purposes for you, that will hold you and mold you and use you for the rest of your life. We have read of recovery at 99.

I read in chapter 12 that Abram was 75 when he left Heron. He too had heard the call of God. Come out, I'll make of you a great nation.

And those early years must have been thrilling years. The God of glory appeared to him. Now, he was living in Ur of the Chaldees.

That was not a Heightsville, all right? Nothing against Heightsville, but this was cutting-edge civilization. Ur of the Chaldees was a pretty important place. And yet the glory of Ur faded when the God of glory appeared to him.

And a man packed up his U-Haul trailer and away he went, not knowing where he was going. But he had heard the call of God, and those early years must have been exciting years. Going to a promised land, I'm going to give you a son.

I'm going to make of you a father of many nations. Exciting years. But after 11 years, something happened.

You understand that Abraham couldn't wait any longer. God's wheels were turning too slowly. I'm going to have to help God out.

And we find that here's a man, and he made a momentous choice to step around God's will, to not wait God's time, to just do it his way. And he had a son. God had promised he had a son.

But, you know, as we begin to take some snapshots of Ishmael with Abraham, I don't think you had a digital camera, but if you did, you know, click. Ishmael's first step. Put it up on the wall.

And you see Abraham rolling the ball down the tent floor to his son. Great moment. Ishmael's first birthday.

The first hunting trip. And there's a picture of the elk that they brought down, and it's mounted on the wall, and all these pictures that marked his son. But something wasn't right, was it? This was second best.

This was not what God had given. This is what he had produced. This is a Simon coming out.

It wasn't a Peter. And for 13 years, 13 long years, God was silent. I wonder today as we sit in this conference meeting, how long has God been silent to you? Things have changed.

I started my Christian life with all kinds of anticipation. I went on really well. Those were great years.

I was so involved. And if we took a picture of the snapshots of your spiritual life, there's your Sunday school class, your boys or your girls, and you put a lot of time and you put a lot of effort and money and prayer into that group. But that was a long time ago because things have changed.

And then, of course, there's another picture of the assembly gathering, the Sunday school picnic, or the Christians here. Man, you're right in the middle. Big smile.

But now there's other pictures that have been put up on your pegboard or your refrigerator. Friends have changed, people from the office, people from work. They're nice people.

They're not saved, but they're nice people. But you realize this is second best. And then you look at your wedding picture.

My wife and I used to read together. We prayed together. We had good times.

It's a long time ago. Let me ask you, do you ever read together with your spouse, husband and wife? Do you ever pray together? Or is it just when there's a crisis? And here's a man after 13 years. I just wonder whether he says, I've made this mess.

I'm going to have to live with it. All of God's purposes have gone out the window because of what I've done. That's what has encouraged me from the two messages because we have read about a God of restoration.

And it was the Lord that moved toward Abram. Abram was at a distance, wasn't he? It's not that God had moved. It was that Abram had moved.

He had made the mess. But at 99, the God of restoration moved toward his man. And he says, Abram, Abram, I'm going to talk to you now.

I am the El Shaddai. You walk before me, you'll be perfect. Now, it wasn't sinless perfection.

He's not getting that, no. He says, you enjoy the full purposes of God. And in that statement, the mighty, majestic, sovereign, omnipotent God moved toward him the first time.

That expression is used, the El Shaddai, the almighty, the all-sufficient one. Nothing too hard for the Lord. And if I'm speaking to a believer here and your life has changed, not for the better, but you're at a long ways back.

You're still hanging in there, but it's not what it used to be. Understand that the all-sufficient God is still in your track and restoration is never too late. Never too late.

God wants your life to be altered for him. We've been learning lessons from Peter. And here's the all-sufficient God moving toward him, his matchless person, his provision for them.

You walk before me. Don't walk with your own understanding. You have made a mess of it.

You walk before me with absolute confidence. My eye is upon you. My purposes have not changed.

Be perfect. Get in line again. Enjoy all that I have in store for you.

And we find at the end of this passage, Abram is laughing. Is it any wonder that he named his son Isaac? Laughter? Hundred-year-old father, 90-year-old mother. Ridiculous.

No, not ridiculous. Amazing. And, you know, today God wants to make us laugh again, if I could use that in a proper sense.

To be brought back into the current of his purposes and of his thoughts. To understand that he is the God of restoration. Yes, there are wasted years sometimes.

But the purposes of God have not changed. And he wants to work in your life and in my life. His purposes and his desire, restoration at 99.

We have read of a request at 85. I like when it comes to Caleb, here's a man who had lived with a vision for 45 years. You know, it's great when older believers pray.

It's great to hear young people pray. It really is. I'm thrilled to hear young believers, maybe just newly saved, and they're just talking to their God.

But I can say it's great to hear older believers pray. They've gone on for God, who've proved him, who've known him for many, many years. Just to hear them talking to their father.

Here's an old believer, 85 years of age. He's praying, making a request. And he says, Joshua, I've got a request.

You notice it was a request of a specified, a specific interest. No general praying with Caleb. He says, I've got a specific request.

Joshua, give me this mountain. A specific request. Let me just ask you today, what are you praying for specifically? Lord, bless the missionaries and bless the gospel and bless this conference.

That's good. But what are you praying for specifically for something? He had his eye upon this mountain for 45 years. You know, I remember a number of years.

Well, just a few years ago, we were in St. John's, Newfoundland, and one of the believers there, an Indian believer, Indian sister, had prayed at New Year's time. She says, Lord, I want you to use me in a definite way in this year. Now, that was leaving it kind of general, but she had defined it this year, a definite way.

It just so happened that we happened to go back to Gander for New Year's, and we met some defectors from Sri Lanka. They had jumped off the plane. They had wandered the streets of Gander, Newfoundland.

One of the believers had seen them, invited them in for coffee. They said, We're having a New Year's service. Would you want to come? So they all came, eight or nine of them.

And I met them. We actually met them that time, and I said, Now, listen, if I was able to bring someone that could speak the Tamil language, would you come and listen? They said, We certainly would. We've got nothing else to do.

So I went back to St. John's and talked to this couple. I said, Would you be willing to come to Gander to just convey the gospel to these men? He said, We'd like to go. Well, I remember that service.

I won't give you that meeting. I won't give you all the details. But going back in the van, this sister said to me, she said, I can't believe it.

She said, I prayed just a couple of weeks ago that God would use me in a specific way. I didn't think he would answer so quickly. But a specific request was answered in a very definite time.

Here's Caleb, and he's asking in a very specific way. And I want to ask you, What are you praying for specifically? It was a request with spiritual confidence. In fact, Moses had said, Caleb, this is going to be your territory.

He had held on to that truth. He had confidence that the word of Moses was reliable. And here we are standing on God's word.

It's reliable. We can stand on it with confidence. It was a request of longstanding faith, 45 years.

He'd seen that mountain 45 years before, and he never got it out of his sight. Just recently, I was in Northern Ireland, and I just appreciated the fact that there was a believer there. And he passed a building every single day on the way to work.

And he thought to himself, Wouldn't that be a great building for some gospel meetings? Now, that would be stepping outside of the box, outside of the gospel hall tradition. Use a public community hall. He says, Wouldn't that be a lovely meeting place? And every day for three years or two years, he passed that building.

He never got it out of his soul until finally he began to take action. He asked the brethren. He spoke to the conveners of that community center, and the result was that that longstanding faith was met by courageous action.

And the series of meetings proved to be a time of visitation. Give me this mountain. God delights to give answers to these requests.

So wherever we are in the road of life, 17, 99, 85, whatever our need is, there is a God who age is important to him, whether it's resolve at 17 or restoration at 99 or request at 85.