This sermon emphasizes the importance of seeking God's will through prayer, using Jesus' example of praying all night before choosing His apostles. It highlights the significance of making decisions that align with God's plan, especially for young individuals who may be called for eternal purposes. The sermon encourages living a life that reflects Christ, following His example of humility, love, and obedience, and trusting in God's guidance and provision for every aspect of life.

I want to turn to a passage in Luke's Gospel, chapter 6. There was only one time in the Gospels that it is mentioned that Jesus prayed all night. He may have prayed at other times all night, we don't know. But there's one time it is mentioned. Now one would think, why does Jesus, who never sinned, had such perfect fellowship with the Father, why does he have to pray all night? It's in Luke chapter 6, verse 12. It says, at that time he went to the mountain and prayed, and he spent the whole night in prayer. And then we know in the next verse, why he prayed all night. In the morning, when the day came, he called his disciples and chose twelve of them, whom he named his apostles. And these were all of them below thirty years old. Jesus was like a Jewish rabbi, and they never chose anyone older than them to be their disciples. So, he prayed all night, to seek his Father's will. He didn't want to make a mistake. Because the whole future of the church depended on these people whom he is choosing. The more important the decision we are taking, the more long-term consequences, the more we have to pray. Decisions that don't have long-term consequences, we don't have to pray so much. So, here was something very, very important that is going to affect the next two thousand years. And so, he had to be very sure about, because he was human, he had to be very sure that his mind was thinking clearly about the Father's choices. So, he had to be very sure, he had to be convinced that he was completely sure about the Father's will, about whom he was going to choose as his disciples. These were not the most clever people in Israel. These were not the greatest Bible scholars in Israel. We know that at the same time when Jesus was on earth, there was a Bible school being run in Jerusalem by Gamaliel. And we know that the Apostle Paul, before he was converted, was studying there for three years. But Jesus didn't go to that Bible school and select people to be his apostles. Jesus didn't go to that Bible school and select people to be his apostles. He selected people who were in very ordinary professions. There were some who didn't have any special education, like Peter, Jacob, Johannes, they were fishermen. And then there were some very educated people, like Matthew, who was an accountant. Education didn't make a difference. There were those who were very educated, those who were not so educated. But he picked out some, and he was going to train them for the most important work that was going to be done on the earth. And even Judas Iscariot, at that time, was a whole-hearted, radical disciple. Because it says here in verse 16, that he became a traitor. When you say somebody became sick, that means he was healthy before. When he became a traitor, it means he was not a traitor in the beginning. And the Father would not have given that name to Jesus, if Judas was not whole-hearted. And the Father would not have given that name to Jesus, if Judas was not whole-hearted. And there are some who say that Jesus chose him so that some prophecies would come true. But there are people who don't know God, who say that. God does not play with people's lives when it is a question of heaven or hell. He was a whole-hearted person who became a traitor. The reason I mention this, many of you are in your twenties. Many of you are in your twenties now. It is usually the time when God chooses people, also today, for a purpose that is eternal. For the most important work that anyone can do on this earth. And you can see how important the calling of these people was. He never prayed all night to heal the sick or cast out demons. He did not pray all night in the Bridge of Sermon. When it came to selecting those who were going to serve him, it was the most important decision Jesus was making in his whole life. And I want to say that many of you have the same privilege now, being called and chosen by God. To fulfill a particular purpose. To build God's church. And above all, to be a witness for Christ. And I believe that is why God has brought you here. However young you are, even if you are below twenty, it does not matter. I think people like Joseph were chosen when they were seventeen. And David, probably when he was eighteen or nineteen. And Samuel, when he was eight or nine. But throughout Scripture, I see the people whom God chose were mostly young. Even the great prophet Jeremiah was probably nineteen or twenty years old. Because in the first chapter, God says to him, don't say you're a young man. Very often the devil tries to say, oh you're young, you've got to wait a long time before you serve God. But the word of the Lord is, don't say you're young. The question is not our age. The question is, how open are you going to be to God when he speaks to you? One of the greatest truths that has encouraged me in the Bible is that with God there is no partiality. It's a very small verse in Romans chapter two. But if you meditate on it, you'll find there's a tremendous depth of meaning there. A very simple sentence. Romans chapter two and verse eleven. There is no partiality with God. Why does he choose some people? Why does he not choose others? He doesn't just pick names out of a hat blindly. No, he sees in people a certain willingness to respond to his call. I don't know most of you here. I don't know you. But having been in many such gatherings in the past 40-50 years, with people of your age in different parts of the world, I have a sense that God brings together such people who he has a purpose for. Particularly if they want to hear the message I preach. I can say that without a doubt to every one of you sitting here. Especially you young people. That God has a very special purpose for you. And that's why he brought you into this world. And that's why he allowed you to be born into this world. And that's why he allowed you to hear the gospel so early in life. And that you responded to his call. And that you now have a desire to come here to hear more of what God has to say to you. All those desires were put in our heart by God. And you have to remember there is no partiality with God. What he did for Joseph, or David, or Daniel, he did for you. In the New Testament it's even more wonderful. In the New Testament it's even more wonderful. Because today we have the most wonderful example of all. And that's Jesus Christ. And one of the most wonderful truths in the New Testament that changed my whole life was when I recognized that Jesus lived on earth just like me. He was tempted like me. He didn't face the circumstances I faced. His circumstances were different. But the temptations were the same. And God treated Jesus just like anybody else on this earth. He never made a difference. Because of one verse. There is no partiality with God. And it's very difficult for many Christians to understand that God did not show any partiality to Jesus, his own son. The entire Christian world believes that God treated Jesus in a special way. And that's why they don't have faith to follow him. One of the greatest truths that changed my life was when I realized that he didn't treat him in a special way. Further down in Romans 8 and verse 29 just like he chose those 12 apostles here another word is used. And that word applies to you and me. He chose us. He formed us. And it says here that he predestined us to become conformed to the image of his son so that Jesus, the first one, may be the first one among many brothers. It's a wonderful thing to recognize that God chose us. This word foreknowledge. Who he foreknew. God, way back in eternity, knew who the 12 disciples of Jesus were going to be. When Jesus came to earth, because he came as a man, he emptied himself of all that knowledge he had when he was in heaven. He came here, having emptied himself, he needed to seek the Father to see who the 12 disciples were. But God had chosen those 12 disciples even before he created Adam. Because of this word foreknowledge. He knew beforehand. We are human, we can only know after something is done. When you see the news on television, you're seeing something that's already happened. We have foreknowledge. We have knowledge after the thing has happened. Foreknowledge means God knows it before it has happened. He doesn't influence that decision that you take. He doesn't influence the actions. Just like if you watch news on television, you're not influencing the actions that you're seeing there. You just see it. You see everything that happens in a particular town. In the same way, God can look into the future and see everything that's going to happen for millions of years. So that's why, long before he created Adam, he could look into the future and know about you and me. He knew where you would be born, to whom you would be born. And he knew that at a particular age you would give your life to Christ. He knew that. And because he knew of the response you would make to the gospel, he chose you. Let's turn to 1 Peter in chapter 1. Now, this is not just theology. I'm not just trying to teach you theology. Every truth in the Bible has a practical application and value. Every single truth. So we don't study the Bible in an abstract way without any practical application. If you listen carefully and you're gripped by this truth, you will find it has a practical application in your life. See, today, a lot of young people and young teenagers and all are so insecure. Today we live in a world where thousands and thousands of young people have parents who are divorced. The one who is in their home, one of them is not their father or their mother very often. Or their parents. The mother is divorced and married to somebody else or the father is divorced and married to somebody else. That may not have happened to you by God's grace. But that has happened to thousands and millions of people your age in the world today. If you don't have a message for them, then we have not understood the gospel. There is a message for everyone. God so loved the world. He loved that woman in Samaria who was divorced five times and was sleeping with some other man who was not even her husband. I mean, most religious people would have written her off, but Jesus used her. God's love is so great. I can't understand that. I can't understand that because I don't shed my blood for these women who are divorced five times. People who criticize them don't shed their blood and die on the cross for them. That's why it's so easy to criticize them. Jesus came to die for such people. That's why he loved them. He loves every single person in the world. And the more I become like God, the more I will love every person in the world no matter how sinful they are. God doesn't love their sin and I don't love their sin either. But he loves the people. He loves the people like a mother loves a child who's got so many sicknesses. A mother doesn't love the sickness. She hates the sickness. She wants to free the children from all those sicknesses. But she loves the children. And it's the same with God. So God sees how you decided one day that you would accept Christ as your Savior. And he chose you. 1 Peter 1 verse 1 and 2 It says here we are chosen according to the foreknowledge of God the Father. Chosen. Just like those twelve apostles were chosen. Chosen according to the foreknowledge of God. Can you believe that? That you were chosen because God knew you before the worlds were created. That God knew you before he created the world. In Ephesians chapter 1 Ephesians 1 verse 4 Here it also says that he chose us before the foundations of the world were laid. It's a verse that comes before 1 John 1 1 John 1 says that in the beginning God created heaven and earth. But this verse says before 1 John 1 Something happened that concerned me and you. Do you realize that? That there's something concerning you that happened before Genesis 1 verse 1. And that is that God chose you by name. Exactly like Jesus prayed all night and chose those twelve disciples. And those twelve disciples were not ready as soon as he chose them to serve him. They made so many mistakes. They had to be trained. But Jesus never gave up on them. They were fighting for leadership. They didn't have faith. They couldn't cast out a demon even though Jesus gave them that authority. Many times they wouldn't trust Jesus. But he worked with them and he worked with them and he worked with them and did such a tremendous job with them that they were ready to be filled with the Holy Spirit. And those eleven people went and turned the world upside down and did a work that is lasting to today in two thousand years. They were ordinary people. That's the thing that challenges me. Now you must have faith. In my younger days nobody urged me to have faith that God could do the same thing through me. You must have faith that God will do an eternal work through you in this world before you leave this earth. We have a theme for this weekend making the most of your life. We live in a world today where there's a lot of emphasis on financial investment. When people have a lot of money they need some advisors to tell them how can I invest this money in the best way so that I can get the maximum returns for many years. Because money is a very valuable thing in this world. And they don't want to waste it. And we know of many people who inherited a large fortune from their parents and then they wasted it in their lifetime because they didn't invest it properly. And I've heard of other people who received an inheritance from their parents and invested it and it multiplied 100-200 times. Our life is more important than money. There is a way in which you can invest your life. And if you think about it now when you're young you have the opportunity to invest your whole life in a good way. So that you get the maximum return from your life by the time you come to the end of your life. I was born again in July 1959. It's July 2009 now. Exactly 50 years ago. And I look back over 50 years of my life and I'm so happy about one thing. That very soon after I was converted I understood one thing. That God had a plan for my life. And if I surrendered myself completely to him he would make the best investment of my life. And the wonderful thing is even if he makes some mistakes he makes allowance for that. I've made lots of mistakes. But the wonderful thing about God is that he uses even those mistakes to teach us some lessons. And through them he accomplishes something. That the mistakes work for the glory of God. It's amazing what God does. So what I want to say is this. If you can be gripped at this young age that God has given you it's like billions of dollars God has given you right now and says do you want to invest it yourself or will you let me invest it for me? Your whole life is like billions of dollars. And now you have to choose. Are you going to spend that life the way you like or are you going to say Lord, which is the best way to spend my life? And I hope that all of you will in your life talk to God and say Lord, I don't want to invest one kroner of all this. It's all yours. I want you to I want every year of my life to invest in the way you do it. You know, one of the things that confuses a lot of young people today is that there's so much division among Christians. And they wonder why is there so much disunity when they're fighting and quarreling among Christians? It confuses a lot of young people. They don't know the answer. These people are so much older than me they've been believers 30-40 years but they can't get along with each other. And they stop meeting together and in a few months they split and separate they can't get along with each other. And they say, is this true Christianity? I'll tell you. It's not. That's not true Christianity. You should never follow such an example. But there is one example we can follow and that's Jesus himself. Many years ago this is what the Lord told me if you see a good example of someone following me follow such a person. But if you don't find such a good example then just look at me. And that's the principle I've followed all these 50 years. Now and then I come across a really good example of someone who's following Jesus. And I'll tell you in my 50 years I've seen very, very few. And I can really say I want to follow the example of that man. Very few. But I've been challenged by some. And where I couldn't find such examples I always had Jesus. So I was never without an example. That's why I wouldn't get discouraged. But I told you, Lord, I can follow you. And I want to give you all that advice. Where you find a good example of someone who is living, behaving speaking, acting in a Christ-like way Where you find an example of someone who is living, speaking and behaving in a way that is how Jesus lived And I'm not just talking about someone who is a very gifted speaker. There are many people who have the gift to speak without having a good life. There are many politicians who can speak very well and live a very wicked life. That is not what I look for. I look for a life. Primarily for humility. And if you see such an example you can follow that. Otherwise we've got Jesus. So when God sent Jesus to this earth the whole Christian world knows that he came to die for the sins of the world. That is very important. But there was something more than that. And that is that he came to show us in 33 years how God wanted Adam to live. So, when I read Genesis 1 and 2 I don't see how Adam should have lived. To know how God wanted Adam to live I have to come to the Gospel of Matthew. There I see how God wanted Adam to live. That is how Jesus lived in the four Gospels. When I look at Jesus' life I say, that is how God wanted Adam to live. God was so disappointed that Adam didn't live like that. Adam was tempted by the devil Jesus was tempted by the devil. Adam failed and Jesus didn't fail. Today I'm also tempted by the devil and so are you. And we either follow Adam or Jesus. That's why we have a wonderful example to follow. In the Old Testament they didn't have any example. They only had laws. And like I've often said you can't teach a person swimming in a classroom. If I draw a diagram on this board of how to move your hands and legs you're not going to learn how to swim. It would take 10 hours of class on how to move your hands and breathe and all that. And then I say, okay, now go to the river and jump in and remember all these 500 rules I told you here. They're all wrong. But then Jesus came and he didn't give us rules. He said, follow me. That's like the man who says, I don't give you rules. Come with me to the river and just do what I'm doing. That's the difference between the New Covenant and the Old Covenant. In the Old Covenant they had laws and rules. In the New Covenant we have an example. And in a church if the preacher only gives you rules and rules and rules that is an Old Covenant church. What is one mark of a New Testament church? That a man can get up in front and say, follow me as I follow Christ. From my experience I'll tell you how to handle money. I won't give you rules. I'll give you an example. I'll show you by my life how to honor my father and mother. And I will also show you by my life how to hate my father and mother so that I don't allow them to control my life. Because both are in the New Testament. And I'll show you if I'm married how to talk to my wife, how to behave. I'll show you how to bring up my children. Follow me as I follow Christ. There are very few examples like that. But God has always had a few. There are not many. Matthew chapter 7, Jesus said there are very few who find this narrow way to life. So, if I look around and look around and see hypocrites, hypocrites, hypocrites everywhere it's true. But if I look carefully I'll find a good example. You know how these people look for diamonds and gold? You don't find diamonds and gold lying around on the ground. They dig and dig and dig and there's a lot of mud there. Mud, mud, mud, mud, mud. Then gold, a little bit of gold. It's like that. If you look, you'll find here and there really good examples of those who follow Christ. In the midst of all the mud you'll find a diamond. So, when you see that, you're encouraged. And I'm thankful for those few examples in my life that showed me Christ. Just in a short while you see something of Christ in a person. And that's why God has placed us on this earth. He first sent Jesus saying, this is how I want men to live. And then Jesus chose 12 people and one of them failed him. But the other 11 they showed the world how God wanted Adam to live. And that's not how the world was living. And when it says they turned the world upside down that's a verse in John, Acts 17. It's not really turn the world upside down. The world was already upside down from Adam's time. He turned the world right side up. You see, the world is full of people who are upside down. The world is full of people who are living upside down. But in the middle of all of these there's someone who walks around the right way with his head up. And they wonder what's up with this strange person. Imagine if there was a country where everyone walked on their hands. And you go there walking on your feet. I think you're a funny person. Everybody walks on their feet. And then you try to teach some people to walk on their feet. Most people are not interested. Even though it's much easier to walk on their feet. You know, it's actually easier to live a Christian life than to live a worldly life. It's very difficult to live a worldly life. You may say it's easy. But look at all the sleepless nights you have. Look at the bad ones you have. Look at the depression. And the bad moods. And the anxiety. And the fights and the quarrels. And the debts. So many problems. Is that an easy life? It's not the way God intended man to live. God intended us to live with joy all the time. Without anxiety. Without fear. Without any fear. And living a life where we can demonstrate to others that I have a Father in heaven who cares for me. Not afraid of men. Not afraid of the devil. What a wonderful way to live. Very few people live that way. The devil has done such a work to fool people. They don't obey the principles Jesus laid down. And they have all kinds of problems in their life. Because they don't follow God's principles. So take this as a challenge. That God sent you to this earth to show the world how God wants man to live. I take that for myself. It's a challenge. I say, Lord, I have many weaknesses. I'll tell you honestly, the most important thing in my life is not preaching. It's a very small part of my life. To me, the most important part of my life is how I live every day. How I live, what goes on in my mind throughout the day. And how I speak to other people. How I live with my wife, how I bring up my children. These are the most important things in my life. And for me, preaching is just telling people how I do these other things. That's the way you're supposed to live. God may not call you to be a preacher like me. But that's not the main thing. The main thing is to live. So God chose these eleven apostles not just to be great preachers. They were going to an upside-down world and show them how God wants people to live. I think it's fairly certain that one of those apostles came to India in 55 AD. His name was Thomas. 55 AD. And I'm so thankful that he came to India. Because in that part of India where I come from, we have had Christianity for longer than you had it in Norway. 2,000 years. Some of our ancestors 2,000 years ago were Christians. Because one man came to South India to show how God wanted men to live. Think that one man could come and for 2,000 years there had been Christians there. He did not have any American missionary work to support him financially. He was filled with the Holy Spirit. It's a tremendous challenge to me. Lord, if I'm filled with the Holy Spirit you can do wonderful things for my life. And I wish all of you young people will be gripped by this. Today the great tragedy is that a lot of people, Christians, think the most important requirement in God's work is education and money and all that. Particularly money. If you don't have money you can't do God's work. That's one of the biggest lies of the devil. You don't need money to do God's work. You need the fullness of the Holy Spirit. If God gives you money, well and good. But if he doesn't, that's also okay. We have to demonstrate that to the world. That God can give us the power to live on this earth the way God wants man to live. So when God allowed Jesus to walk on this earth after that he chose those apostles and now he's chosen us. Now we come back to Romans 8 and verse 29. Here we read about us, about you and me. He knew us beforehand and he predestined us. Even the youngest person here if you have accepted Christ as your Savior you have made Jesus Christ Lord of your life. Even an older person it doesn't matter if you made a mess of your life you have made Jesus Lord of your life now. I want to say that God is giving you a ticket with a destination written on it. And that destination is written here predestination. And that is to become like Jesus Christ. Not to go to heaven or hell. My destination is not heaven. The destination God wrote on my ticket when I was born again is not heaven. Most Christians they're only waiting to go to heaven. Because they think that is the destination God wrote on the ticket. You know why? Because they don't read the Bible. Here it says predestined. Predestined means beforehand the destination is written down. And that destination is to become like Jesus Christ. I'll tell you I'm more excited that I'll be like Jesus Christ than I'll go to heaven. I'm not interested in a 14 bedroom house in heaven. What do I do with it? You can have it. I want to be like Jesus. That's the only thing that's got value. People are looking for comfort and then fly around in heaven and all that. I'm not interested in all that. I've seen my destination very clearly. It's not flying around in heaven. It's not a 14 bedroom mansion. It's becoming like Jesus. I'm excited. That that is going to happen in my life. And that has already begun. The Holy Spirit comes in to lead me closer and closer to that destination. And the purpose is that finally Jesus will be the elder brother of many disciples. That's what it says here. That he'll be the firstborn of many brothers. You know, Jesus is never called the only begotten son after his resurrection. He was the only begotten son. God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son. There was a time many years ago when I had only one son. And I called him my only son. Then I had more sons. Then I called him my firstborn son. You understand the difference? Only son. Firstborn son. When Jesus came to earth he was called the only son. After the resurrection he was called the firstborn son. That's what we read here. That he's the firstborn among many brothers. Now the reason I mention that is to emphasize this truth which has been very precious to me. I never get tired of speaking about it. There is no partiality with God. See, when I brought up my four sons I'm a very poor father compared to God. I tried to do my best but compared to God I'm very poor. But even as a very poor father I made sure that there was no partiality among my four sons. Whatever I did for my first son I would do for my second, third, fourth. I did not love one more than the other. I never would do one for one which I wouldn't do for the other. I had no favorites. Some fathers are like that. They have favorites. God is not like that. What I did for my firstborn I did for the others. What I want to ask you is do you believe God is at least a better father than me? I'm sure it's very easy for you to say yes. Then do you think God will do for you everything he did for his firstborn son? I did it. I did for my other son what I did for my firstborn. God is no partiality. If we were gripped by this I'll tell you it changed my life. When I realized I was a younger brother of Jesus Christ. That's why I love it when people call me Brother Zay. I don't allow anybody to call me Reverend or Pastor or all these low, useless titles. The highest title is Younger Brother of Jesus Christ Younger Sister of Jesus Christ Do you want a better title than that? There is no better title than that. Even when you call a person Brother or Sister in the church that's what it means. I am a younger brother of Jesus Christ. And with God there is no partiality. Whatever he did for Jesus he will do for me. The way he protected Jesus he will protect me. The way he cared for Jesus he will care for me. The way he helped Jesus to live a pure life on earth he will help me. The way he helped Jesus to fulfill his ministry on earth he will help me to fulfill my ministry on this earth. And all the demons of hell were against Jesus but they couldn't stop God's will. And all the demons of hell can be against me but they won't be able to stop me from fulfilling God's will for my life. Jesus, my name is at peace and rest all the time. Jesus was always at rest and peace. He could sleep well at night without any fear. I believe that I can do that because I am a younger brother of Jesus. He will let me sleep peacefully at night and a hundred and one other things. Believe it. God can make the best out of your life.