Exhorting an 18 Yr Old Youth to Hold Fast to Biblical Teachings

When you come along and some pretty girl who is very worldly is trying to pull you away from the things that you've been instructed with from the godly people in your life, when you're confronted by that, or the bad companions that are set to corrupt your good morals, when you've got guys come along and entice you to come with them, where the Proverbs says don't go with them, when you've got a girl that comes along, the woman folly, or the loud woman, this adulterous woman, this woman that's described in various places in the Proverbs, you look at these things and you say, yes, that is enticing. That has a promise of fun. I want what's best.

I want what's better. It's better if I cut that off and I get this rather than get that. Because if I get that and I forfeit this, that isn't better.

That's worse. Ben, like I said before, most people in this world are fools. They sacrifice.

You're probably familiar with Pilgrim's Progress. We have the audio version. I was just listening in the car the other day.

You remember Pliable, right? Pliable. Pliable is the kind of guy that you don't want to be. Pliable is the kind of guy that when he's at home with mom and dad and they're Christians, well, yeah, he's kind of partial to that.

But then when he's pliable means kind of bendable. You know, then when he's over with the guys from school who are wicked and perverse and all about all manner of wickedness, well, then he bends and conforms to their shape. That's pliable.

And what I, it was interesting, you know, he fell back. He went the race a little way. You don't want to be one of these guys that goes to race for 17 years or however so long.

And then you fall out of the race. And when Christian got to the gate, the guy, what was it, Goodwill? He was there and he said, did you come alone? He said, well, I actually started out with pliable. And he said, what? Did he count eternal life as such a small thing? Then that's a fool that does that.

Look, you're young right now. You feel like you're going to live forever, but you're not going to live forever. And the day is going to come when justice and wisdom are going to catch up to you.

And if you despise both those things, it doesn't matter. They're both realities still. And they're going to catch up to you.

Both of them. You have a word there. The day is going to come.

If you scoff at wisdom, she's going to come. There's going to be a day coming when she's going to scoff at you. Justice.

You can, you can sin and find there is an immediate justice, but that doesn't mean that there's never justice. They're both. They're both dogging your tracks.

And the day is going to come where you're going to get to a place. You're going to find yourself can put all these fools out here in the world. They're all going to find that they get to that day when that, when wisdom and justice smack them right in the face, and they're going to realize they did not have wisdom and they did not understand justice.

And it's going to be too late. Look, you've, you've been given a lot of teaching. And I'll tell you this.

I'll warn you this, those warnings. I know a lot of times you get a lot of, a lot of guys that like to diminish what's said in Hebrews six and Hebrews 10. They like to, you know, because we believe that once somebody's saved, they can't lose that.

So very often when you see these warnings that come at us about people who can't be brought again, back to repentance, people who walk away and look there later in this worse than it would have been better for them to have never known and having once known and walk away. We find that kind of second Peter. But then I just tell you, take one wisdom.

Then really think about what is for your greatest good for the longest amount of time. Think about justice. Think, think about these things.

Let them fill your thoughts. Don't run out of there into the world and get so caught up and it will, it will take you away. Listen, if you're, if you're not founded on that rock, if you're not founded on Christ, it will, it will tear you up and spit you out.

But take heed.