Transcript
Speaker: Welcome to Growing in Grace with Pastor Victor Morrison. This is a ministry of First Baptist Church located at 1700 Milam Street, Columbus, Texas. We are praying that God will bless you as you listen to this message.
Speaker: If you would like additional information on worship times and ministries at FBC Columbus, you can find out more at our website, fbccolumbustx.org. And now, take your copy of God's timeless Word as Pastor Victor gives today's message.
Speaker: Welcome to Growing in Grace. My name is Victor Morrison. I'm the pastor at First Baptist Church in Columbus, Texas. I'm so glad that you're listening today. You know, we're approaching that the time of the year when we observe the National Day of Prayer as communities. And it's not going to be too much longer until our community will be gathering at the courthouse and we will be praying for our nation.
Speaker: What ah particular part of our nation do you feel the most of a draw or a burden to pray about? Is there any specific segment of our society that is on your heart?
Speaker: I'll tell you one that's been on my heart for a number of years, and it is even today, and that is the the young people of our nation, younger generations. And so as I go into the National Day of Prayer,
Speaker: I'm so excited, but at the same time, i I do still have that burden because I know that not all young people are a part of what I'm about to say. But um my excitement is ah sort of prompted by an article I read by a pastor from Waco, Texas. His name is J.P. Pakluda, and he wrote an interesting article about on what he witnessed when he attended a passion conference in Atlanta, Georgia, two years ago.
Speaker: So two years ago, he said he felt an extreme emotional, spiritual rush because he heard 60,000 students gathered together praising Jesus in one place. And he said he said, I've never witnessed anything like it, and I've never felt anything like I felt that day. And then he went straight from that conference down to Florida, to Tallahassee, to Florida State University,
Speaker: And he said he was one of the guest speakers and he was able to speak to the college students and he had one message planned. And the and the Lord just kind of told him, i want you just to give the simple gospel message.
Speaker: He gave a simple gospel message and an old fashioned altar call asking any of those students who wanted to respond by turning from sin and trusting Jesus Christ.
Speaker: And he said 314 students made their way to the front and confessed their sins to the Lord, trusted Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord, His finished work on the cross, and said they believed in Him, that He had risen from the dead.
Speaker: And he said, it's just phenomenal what was happening. Now, this is two years ago. The name of the article was U.S. College Campuses, colon, A Revival Brewing, with a question mark.
Speaker: Now, some may dismiss that article and what Mr. Pocludo was talking about there as an isolated example or two. But A recent Gallup poll published 17th, 2026 proves otherwise.
Speaker: twenty twenty six proves otherwise See, God is moving among younger generations, and He's been moving over the last two or three years. I don't know when it started, but sometime after COVID. But He says the poll revealed a specific numerical spike in the data related to religious interest in men ages 18 29.
Speaker: In the Gallup poll, they found that 42% of those young men who were surveyed indicated that they were very spiritually hungry and very interested now in religion.
Speaker: So I was thinking about how excited I was and I thought, Lord, don't let it stop. Lord, keep that movement going. I pray that you would just continue to bless it more and more and let it stretch further and further.
Speaker: So I have a recommendation of how we can all pray for this movement taking place among our young people. See, the timing's right because we're also nearing the time of graduation when many are going to be graduating from high school. They'll leave their hometown, go to maybe a college, or they'll accept a position with ah a factory or with a firm, and they're going to start working.
Speaker: And so I think... This is a perfect time for us to pray Philippians chapter 1, verses 9, 10, and 11 over our young people. I think this is what I felt like the Lord was placing upon my heart. Now, you have to remember that historically, the Apostle Paul was praying for new disciples,
Speaker: who had not known the Lord that long, and they were in what is now known as Northeastern Spain, but at that time it was a city called Philippi.
Speaker: But I think that this passage gives us a biblical blueprint of how to build upon what God has started among these young people. So on the National Day of Prayer, i hope you'll join me in praying for our young people. Now, let me just read that passage, and then we're gonna break it down into some specific prayer requests.
Speaker: So let's listen to the Apostle Paul as he tells us how he was praying for this church and for these new disciples every single day. Here's what he said, and it is my prayer that your love may abound more and more with knowledge and all discernment so that you may approve what is excellent.
Speaker: And so be pure and blameless for the day of Christ, filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ to the glory and praise of God.
Speaker: Isn't that a great prayer? I'm so glad that um you know the Lord in his wisdom had some of the prayers of the apostle Paul that were definitely spirit led, he had them placed in his word so that our generation can pray them for future generations that are growing up.
Speaker: So let's go through here and let me break it down for you and give you some specific prayer requests that we can pray for younger generations. The first one is found in verse nine.
Speaker: I think that we should be praying for an overflow of their love for one another and for all people for that matter. But did you hear what he says? And it is my prayer that your love may abound more and more.
Speaker: So all of these are gonna be like spiritual stretches. So I don't want the young people to stay where they are. I want them to stretch and to say, God, I wanna increase in this area or in that area.
Speaker: You know, I'm told, for example, that Michelangelo entered his art studio one morning and began to examine the paintings of his students. So he would walk behind them and watch them as they were you know working on their canvas and so forth. And most of the time, it said he just sort of stared and would look at each pupil's work.
Speaker: But when he came to one that was ah especially gifted, And he was sort of like ah one that he expected had lots of potential. He looked at his work for a long time, and then he only said one word, amplious.
Speaker: And it meant amplify. It meant you're doing great, only expand it, enlarge it. Increase it. And that's what I sense the apostle Paul is saying for this church. See, the very fact that he says, I pray that your love would abound more and more tells me they already were loving one another.
Speaker: Things were already good. I mean, the Lord had already initiated their love for one another the day they said yes to Jesus Christ. It's like suddenly ah on a waterfall of love started to flow from their hearts toward one another.
Speaker: And so here he is, you know, sometime later saying to these new Christians, you know what? I'm going to be praying that you don't stop loving people. You know, i believe that the younger generations in our country, many of them have been hurt.
Speaker: Many of them have been wounded. There's been a lot of things that have happened. And if you ever talk to any of the young people, you'll see. And so all that I'm saying is, if they've had a lot of pain and a lot of hurt, then it's very possible that they would begin to shut down in their spirit, in their heart. You know, the Bible even says that, you know, in the last days, lawlessness will be increased. And so when lawlessness increases, guess what happens to love?
Speaker: Jesus went on to say in Matthew 24, verse 12, not only will lawlessness increase, but the love of many will grow cold.
Speaker: I don't want this younger generation of Christians to allow anything to make their love grow cold. i want their love to increase and to abound more and more because just before that verse in Matthew 24, in Matthew 24, verse 10, Jesus also said, in the last days, many will fall away and betray one another, and hate one another.
Speaker: There's too much hatred out there. I think we need to see this great movement of Christian love, I mean, godly love, come across the nation.
Speaker: Well, he's definitely praying that it would increase, just like, let's say, a river that's beginning to swell, and it's already climbing up the bank. That's what it means when he says that your love may abound more and more.
Speaker: It's something that is gonna be continuous. 1 Thessalonians 3.12 sounds very similar when he says in that passage, 1 Thessalonians 3.12, "'May the Lord make you increase and abound in love for one another and for all as we do for you.'" You know, there's something about Christian love, I believe, that is absolutely contagious. It's attractive because this world can be so cold. And so when the church is on fire with the love of Christ, and that's increasing, there's something that just draws people. They're they're like, I've never seen anything like that. I've never tasted anything like that. I want to know how I can be a part of something like that.
Speaker: But, you know, it's ah it's an interesting thing to think about. If their love is going to increase, is he talking about them just doing their best? I mean, just try really hard to love other people. Is that what he's saying?
Speaker: I believe there's something deeper. I believe it's not that we're going to give God our best. I believe that God is gonna give us his best. I believe the increase in the flow of love only comes from one source.
Speaker: Romans 5.5 says, because God's love has been poured into our hearts forever. through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us. that's how That's how we have this unlimited love that flows from our lives, is that we have the Holy Spirit come to dwell within, and then he helps us to love those who are just, well, let's put it bluntly and frankly, to love those who are unlovely.
Speaker: Do you love only the people who are lovely? Or would you say you have the compassion of Christ that you look at other people through the eyes of the Lord, and it just causes you to overflow with love?
Speaker: Do you remember in John 7, verses 38 and 39, when Jesus said something about an internal fountain that he was going to place within every believer. And here's what he says. These are his own words in John 7, 38 and 39.
Speaker: Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water. Now this he said about the spirit whom those who believed in him were to receive.
Speaker: That's how we can pray that God's love would increase. So I think to pray for the young people that they'll stay in the flow of God's spirit. And if they're filled with God's spirit,
Speaker: The love is going to just gush or ooze out of them every single day. I don't want to see anything interrupt that in our young people. I want them to know that there's something more than just crossing T's and dotting I's, that there's something genuine and relational in following Christ.
Speaker: Well, that's the first thing. Let's move to a second thing. Not only can we pray for an overflow of their love, but I think we also should pray that they would oversee their lives with excellence, praying for their oversight of life with excellence. Now, why do I say that?
Speaker: I say that because that's exactly what the Apostle Paul was led by the Spirit to pray for the people in Philippi. After praying that their love would abound more and more,
Speaker: He also said we need banks on that river. That river, if it's if it doesn't have any parameters, if there are no boundaries on that river, then the love could go in an ungodly direction.
Speaker: But he avoids that with these words, that your love may abound more and more with knowledge and all discernment. Those are the two banks so that you may approve what is excellent.
Speaker: So I'm praying that the younger generation, when the love comes and they feel the kindness and they feel the generosity and they feel the compassion, that with that, they also will realize I have to be anchored by truth and also by discernment.
Speaker: These kind of things need to be in my life. And so a river at flood stage can be dangerous, right? I remember there's a family in our church that had to be rescued from a home because ah a river overflowed where they have this ah vacation home.
Speaker: But you know it's the same way. We have to test for excellence. He said approve. The word of approve there was the word for assess the quality of something.
Speaker: Back then, when Paul was saying these words, to approve with excellence, what he was referring to was when they checked the quality of a stone, a gemstone. They checked the quality of, say, a gold or a silver coin. Yes, I know this is a gold coin. I know this is a silver coin. But what percent is gold or silver.
Speaker: So we need to test for excellence. We also need to tether to truth. You know, when he says knowledge here, what kind of knowledge are we talking about?
Speaker: Is it that he's talking about the kind of knowledge that we might learn at school? Well, I believe Colossians 1.9 clarifies when Paul would pray for people to have knowledge, what kind of knowledge was it?
Speaker: Listen to what he says in that prayer in Colossians 1.9. "'And so from the day we heard, "'we have not ceased to pray for you, "'asking that you may be filled "'with the knowledge of his will "'in all spiritual wisdom and understanding.'" Ah, now it's getting clearer, right? He's talking about the truth of God's word, God's standards. So with love needs to be this clarity about what is excellent and what is true. And that way we hold on to those things. We don't say, well, I'm supposed to be compassionate, so I've got to go with everything and say that everything is right.
Speaker: No, because the other bank, not only truth, the other bank of this river that's gonna guide that love in the right direction would be discernment. You know, discernment is this distinction between what is good and evil.
Speaker: what is good and what is best. In Hebrews 5, verses 11 through 14, reminds us the only way that our discernment is going to work properly, the way God designs for it to work, is if we're in the Word of God, if we're applying the Word of God. It is through practice, he says, that you will learn how to apply God's word to everyday life.
Speaker: You see, the word of God will touch on every issue you can ever imagine that's out there in life. All you've got to do is stay in the word and keep obeying, keep following what he has said.
Speaker: I'll never forget one of my mentors from the past. I used to call him granddad. One time granddad and I were working out in the field together. And he said, Vic, have I ever told you what I believe about ah you know how we are to receive each man's counsel?
Speaker: I said, no, sir, you haven't. And he said, here's what I say. He said, I believe we can receive any man's counsel but we should reserve our own right to our own judgment.
Speaker: And I thought that was really an amazing statement. In other words, I can have a discussion with anybody about anything, but when it comes to making the final decision, I have to be aware i will be accountable to God for my decisions, for my beliefs, for my words, for my actions.
Speaker: I will stand before God and I will give account For all of that, that's why i need to be moving. My life needs to be flowing through these banks of truth and discernment.
Speaker: And over it all, I'm watching to make sure that I'm moving my life in the direction of excellence. So we're going to oversee life with excellence.
Speaker: We're going to ask God, help us overflow with love, but we're also going to overcome, overcome through any circumstance in life through integrity, through integrity.
Speaker: Listen to what he says in the rest of this verse when he says, so that you may approve what is excellent, so be pure and blameless for the day of Christ. So be pure and blameless for the day of Christ.
Speaker: Wow. You know, I think integrity is the best pathway for victory for our young people. You see, integrity has three different parts. One is the examination.
Speaker: When he says pure, I think he's referring to ancient pottery, that was examined back then by holding the pottery up to the light of the sun.
Speaker: And as the sunlight would shine upon that that piece of pottery, then they could easily see if there were cracks or if there was some kind of putty that was used to fill the cracks.
Speaker: And so integrity means I have to realize, wait, I don't want to get off into sin I want to obey God and give Him the very best I can. i want to completely obey Him.
Speaker: So purity would refer to my examination. But there's something else when he uses the word blameless. He says pure and blameless. That word was used back in their day to refer to the Roman roads that would be like a lot of stones and so forth put together to make ah a roadway.
Speaker: Well, if the stone was not flat, if it was sticking up, you know what it could be? a stumbling stone, a stumbling block. And Romans 14, 13 says, we need to be careful that our lives and the things that are in our lives are not like rocks that are sticking up and causing others to stumble because what we would then open ourselves up to would be blame.
Speaker: He says, I want you to be pure and I want you to be blameless. I want you to live in such a way that your life is not gonna cause someone else to spiritually stumble.
Speaker: I think those are wise words and I think they're all referring to integrity. So we have integrity's examination. That's the purity. Examine in my life if there's any cracks there. But then we have also integrity's consideration.
Speaker: That's blameless. I'm having to think about other people and what their perception will be of my life. But then we have integrity's anticipation.
Speaker: I think sometimes we forget about this. you know Integrity's anticipation is represented in what Paul wrote next. be pure and blameless for the day of Christ, for the day of Christ.
Speaker: You see, he anticipates he will be held accountable, accountable for his works, how he's lived his life, for the way he's used his words, for his attitudes as he's gone through life.
Speaker: You see, I believe that we are saved completely. We can have eternal security based on one thing, The assurance of our salvation is based on the finished work of Jesus Christ on the cross.
Speaker: Okay, so that's where we get our assurance of salvation. But in addition to our assurance of salvation, there's also our works. So my life, will I have anything that will bring glory and honor to Jesus Christ in eternity?
Speaker: 1 Corinthians 3, 10 through 15 says my my works, the way I've lived my life, it's gonna be tested by fire when I get to heaven. And it might be that everything I've done has been for self, not for Jesus, and it will be burned up right in front of my eyes.
Speaker: But he says, I still will be saved because of Jesus' blood and his righteousness, but my works will vanish before my eyes. I don't want that for our young people. I want them to live lives of integrity now so they have nothing that will disappear later in eternity.
Speaker: And therefore I want them, this is the fourth prayer request. Let's pray that they will just become overgrown with an abundance of fruit. So fruitfulness.
Speaker: See, there's the amount of fruit. It's described with these words, filled with fruit, filled with fruit, filled with the fruit of righteousness, he says.
Speaker: filled with fruit lets me know he's talking about abundant fruitfulness. So we should say, Lord, help them really be fruitful. But then there's the appearance of fruit, the fruit of righteousness.
Speaker: You know, if you read Matthew 7, verses 15 to 20, you'll discover that the type of fruit is determined by the type of tree. And so we need to stay connected to the right tree, to the righteous tree of the Lord Jesus Christ, and we will bear the right kind of fruit.
Speaker: And then there's the agent of fruit. It's kind of the same thing I was just referring to. He says that comes through Jesus Christ. You know, it's no wonder in John 15, verse five, that Jesus told his disciples and he tells us today,
Speaker: The only way you will bear spiritual fruit is through him. That's why Galatians 5, 22 to 25 says that the Holy Spirit can bear the fruit of the Spirit in our lives.
Speaker: Love and joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. That's something only God can do. But let's pray for younger generations that the fruit of the ah Holy Spirit, the fruit of abiding in Christ would just be abundant in their lives.
Speaker: Well, one last prayer request would be to pray that they will be completely overshadowed by the the glory of God, and they would be happy about it. They would be glad to have that because Paul says that they would be filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ to the glory and praise of God.
Speaker: Who is it all for? What is it all about? It ought to be all about displaying God's glory. You know, in Acts 3, verses 6 through 11, a man was healed.
Speaker: and And there, everybody was saying, that's so amazing. Look what you did. And suddenly, ah Peter and John said, no, no, we did not do this. Jesus did this.
Speaker: And so whenever our lives display God's glory, we also want to direct the glory to honor Jesus Christ and say, look, whatever platform God gives me, whatever achievements and accomplishments that I do in my life, I want it all to honor Jesus Christ. That's the purpose of life is to glorify the Lord.
Speaker: And so I thought it was interesting if you follow that same passage in Acts 3, verses 17 to 26, where Peter and John use that opportunity to just go ahead and share the gospel.
Speaker: So we should not only display God's glory and direct God's glory, but we should also declare God's glory. The glory that can only be found through repentance and faith in Jesus Christ.
Speaker: I hope that wherever you live, that you will be a part of a national day of prayer when you can bow your heart before God and say, Lord, we need your touch. We need a spiritual awakening in our country. I think it's happening. We just need to pray that it would amplify, that it would increase, that it would spread.
Speaker: Let's pray together. Oh, Lord, thank you for our nation. Thank you for how you've blessed our nation. You've given us so many natural resources. You've given us so many gifts, Lord, entrusted us with so much.
Speaker: So help us, oh Lord, to be faithful with what you've entrusted to us. Help us, oh Lord, to allow you to get the glory through everything that we do. Thank you for what you're doing through these younger generations. And so we pray together for them.
Speaker: that their zeal would be for the glory of the Lord, that their lives would overflow with fruitfulness for God, that they would direct their lives based on integrity and excellence, and that their love would increase more and more. I thank you for every single college student, every single high school student or junior high student, or even child that's saying yes to Jesus and living for you. Continue to bless them, oh God. But thank you once again for this time to look into your word and to learn how to pray for our nation.
Speaker: In Jesus' name we pray, amen. Thank you so much for listening today. I pray that God's blessed you through this message. Let's pray for our country.
Speaker: This is a ministry of First Baptist Church located 1700 Milam Street, Columbus, Texas.
