Oscar Pimentel, General Overseer
The Church of God
Many times we have heard that the youth of the Church are the Church of tomorrow, but I ask both young and old in the Church who’ve ever thought along this line to reconsider their thinking. The Victory Leaders Band is making its presence known around the world right now!
Centuries ago, John the beloved identified a group of young men within the Church, whom he said, “…are strong, and the word of God abideth in you, and ye have overcome the wicked one” (1 John 2:14). I have seen such youth among the ranks of the Church in diverse places, and this sort of testimony can still be professed about a zealous group of young men and women in The Church of God today. These young people realize that their victory over Satan—the wicked one—is based upon STRENGTH, but not just any STRENGTH. While the STRENGTH that accompanies the youthful years of life certainly contributes to what a person might be capable of accomplishing for the Lord, the STRENGTH that these know is of a SPIRITUAL NATURE, descending from God above into the lives of His children. It is the STRENGTH that comes through the indwelling of the WORD of God in man.
Young men and women, this is God’s way to VICTORY over the enemy of our souls. Christ was still a young man when He was in the wilderness being tempted of the devil, but in the youthful years of His life, He understood that VICTORY over the wicked one was conditioned upon SPIRITUAL STRENGTH—which was conditioned upon God’s WORD abiding in Him. When the tempter came to young Jesus, He stood upon the WORD of God and did not move from that sure and solid Rock. He masterfully wielded the Sword of the Spirit by proclaiming “It is written!” and retained the victory. It is the quickening and powerful WORD of God on the inside of you, living in you, dwelling in you, that will enable you to resist the devil and temptation!
Go ahead, ask the youth of the Church if they believe they are the Church of the future or of the present. Just while I was preparing to write this article, a young lady visited my office wondering why the preachers frequently declare the youth to be “the Church of the future.” She even seemed bothered by the mere statement. She wondered if there wasn’t anything they were doing now or could do now. She said that if they changed their way of thinking and began declaring that the youth are the Church of today, it might encourage many of the young people to make up the hedge, stand in the gap, and answer the call of God.
Why should our young people have to wait, is there not a cause for them to stand in the gap with so many of our aged men and women going on to their reward? The Old Testament prophet said, “And it shall come to pass afterward, that I will pour out my spirit upon all flesh; and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, your young men shall see visions” (Joel 2:28). At the outpouring of the Holy Ghost in the Upper Room, when the day of Pentecost had fully come, a young Peter declared that people were witnessing what had been already declared in Scripture: “…this is that which was spoken by the prophet Joel; And it shall come to pass in the last days, saith God, I will pour out of my Spirit upon all flesh: and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams” (Acts 2:16, 17). We need the young and aged alike. All are important and have a place in God’s program.
The day in which we live requires every capable and willing person among our ranks to step up to the front lines of the battle. According to Joel and the apostles, both young and old will have a role to play “in the last days.” According to the apostles and prophets, God’s Spirit will be poured out upon as many as will obey the God of heaven. They will be filled with the HOLY GHOST and fire! We will have young preachers, young visionaries, and old dreamers in these last days!
Why should our youth wait in the face of so many public displays of defiance from the wicked one against God and His people on every hand? It didn’t sit well with young David when he went to see his brothers, as his father had instructed, and found the “…champion out of the camp of the Philistines, named Goliath” (1 Sam. 17:4) openly and unapologetically defying the “armies of Israel” (1 Sam. 17:10). If that wasn’t enough to cause his righteous indignation to swell up, he also saw “the men of Israel” quaking in fear, becoming dismayed, and fleeing from the presence of this uncircumcised Philistine. Zeal is not always competence, but in the case of this young man, he had a passion for God and His people that surpassed fear and dismay—and when no one else would do it, although he wasn’t an experienced man of war, he stepped forward (not esteeming his life precious) and slew this terrible giant.
I believe we have young people within our ranks whom God has filled with His Spirit, whose vision transcends and rises above the darkness of this world because their eyes are on Jesus, the King. I have sat and talked with some in living rooms. I have seen them in our local churches, I have heard them preach from our pulpits with fire in their bones! I have surveyed them as they have moved among us. They have taken hold of Someone and Someone has taken hold of them—His name is Jesus Christ! I have seen on their faces that they are just waiting for some encouragement, insight, opportunity, or instructions to do something more for Christ and His Church. They see what you and I see. They see the things that are going on in the world today, but they are not discouraged or disheartened. This generation of youth sees the same enormous challenges that you and I see, BUT, they, like Caleb in Numbers 13:30, are looking through a different pair of optic lenses that are of a spiritual nature!
In biblical times, many young men and women did great exploits, and rightly so considering the Bible says, “…the people that do know their God shall be strong, and do exploits” (Dan. 11:32). It was because of this strength that Joshua and Caleb were able to tell the congregation, “…The land, which we passed through to search it, is an exceeding good land. If the Lord delight in us, then he will bring us into this land, and give it us; a land which floweth with milk and honey. Only rebel not ye against the LORD, neither fear ye the people of the land; for they are bread for us: their defence is departed from them, and the LORD is with us: fear them not” (Num. 14:7-9).
God had commanded Moses to send men to spy out the land which He had given to His children. It was with this understanding, and under this injunction, that young Joshua and Caleb went with the rest of the men, but the knowledge they had of their God and the faith they had in their God was the difference-maker for these two. Likewise, this will make the difference for young men and women today! As far as Joshua and Caleb were concerned, God’s guarantee was, “Fear thou not; for I am with thee: be not dismayed; for I am thy God: I will strengthen thee; yea, I will help thee; yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness” (Isa. 41:10). These two had “passed through” the land and searched it. They found it to be all that God had promised and more than they had ever imagined. They were qualified to give first-hand, detailed accounts of Canaan since they had experienced it, they had walked upon it, and they had set foot on God’s promises.
A young convert once was asked to get up and preach, but the timid boy protested that he had no sermon and did not know how to make one. He was told that if he couldn’t preach to just tell of his Christian experience. The boy obeyed. His heart was overflowing with gratitude to his Lord for saving him—a wicked, ignorant country boy. He attempted no sermon, scraped down no star-dust of rhetoric, indulged in no sophomoric flights of fancy, shot off no glittering fireworks, scattered no bouquets of compliments. He went right on in sobs, tears, and rejoicing to tell how he was convicted of his sins, how the Lord graciously met him and, for Christ’s sake, pardoned his many sins, how gloriously happy he was, how Jesus was ready to welcome any other poor country boy, and how the one desire of his soul was to lead others to Christ. And there he stood, himself a monument of grace, sharing his heart until heaven came down to greet the souls of his listeners and fill their hearts with glory. This is the greatest sermon that can ever be preached!
When you young men and women have experienced the rich spiritual depths through faith in Jesus Christ, and are living in His promises of redeeming grace, sanctifying power, and Holy Ghost baptism, nothing will be able to halt your forward advance into the realm of spiritual excellence. Nor will anything keep you from encouraging others to join in and press ahead. If you have repented of your sins and have asked Christ into your heart, then you are saved and have begun your walk in the realm of God’s great promises. You are qualified, not because you might know so much about the Scripture, but because you have encountered the Author of the Scripture! Only you can share first-hand, detailed information of what He did for you, what He means to you, and where He has taken you.
Young men and women, if God’s congregation ever begins to cast shadows of doubt upon its ability to reach and enter God’s great promises, and goes to weeping and crying and throwing its hands up in defeat because the enemy looks too big or the odds look too great—stand and take the lead like those two great stalwart youths, Joshua the son of Nun and Caleb the son of Jephunneh. May the Victory Leaders Band battle cry always be, “Let us go up at once, and possess it; for we are well able to overcome” the odds, the challenge, the trial, the wicked one!
Youth of The Church of God, the Lord is calling on you to be different, to “…be ye separate,…and touch not the unclean thing” (2 Cor. 6:17), and He will receive you. There is no need to go in circles, you can step out of the spiritual wilderness that is the world and step into the spiritual blessings of God no matter what others may say, no matter what it may cost, no matter what it may mean, and no matter who you may face. God has never promised that stepping into His will, walking in His paths, and treading the less traveled road to glory would be easy, but He has said that He would be with us and that, “in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us” (Rom. 8:37).
There is a generation of young people—and I believe this is it—who will not be satisfied with Mom and Pop’s accounts, or grandparent’s delightful recollections of days gone by in the Church, but they are visionaries marching toward and looking forward to the glory of the latter house! This is the generation who will “Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world”, who understands that “If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world. And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof: but he that doeth the will of God abideth for ever” (1 John 2:15-17).
VLBs, forget the things that are behind and temporal, and reach forth to those things that are ahead. Remember the glory of the latter house has been promised and, although it may tarry, it shall come! Keep looking to the Promised Land, it is in sight and just ahead! Keep looking and marching forward into the greatest blessings of God that any generation has ever seen!