0676, Out of The Mouths of Babes

Episode Title: Out of the Mouths of Babes—Children Who Stand for GodEpisode SummaryW. D. Frazee appeals to parents, teachers, children, and youth to prepare now for the final conflict, showing that God will use rightly trained children to witness with courage, obedience, and praise when the majority forsake the truth.“If we’ll stand up for Jesus here, He’ll stand up for us up in heaven.”With that call to courage, Pastor W. D. Frazee opens this 1963 message with the hymn “Stand Up! Stand Up for Jesus,” then turns to a striking contemporary report from Newsweek: evangelical Christian children in Soviet Russia separated from their parents because of their faith, beaten and pressured, yet still praying, singing, and asking God to help them stand firm.From Psalm 8:2—“Out of the mouth of babes and sucklings hast thou ordained strength”—Pastor Frazee presses home the great burden of the sermon: God will use children and youth in the closing crisis, but they must be trained now. The world imagines childhood as a time for frivolity and indulgence, while adulthood is the time for responsibility. Scripture reverses that assumption. Joseph, Daniel, the captive maid, Esther, John the Baptist, and the children who praised Jesus in the temple all show that the young can stand for God with courage, conviction, and spiritual power.The sermon develops several urgent lessons:Children and youth in the final conflict — believing parents must recognize that their children will have decisive battles to fight for the Lord.Character before crisis — crisis does not create character; it reveals what has already been formed in the home, school, and secret place with God.The courage to stand alone — Joseph and Daniel received the training they needed before they were separated from home, and then they stood faithful without visible human support.The danger of neutrality — Frazee warns children and youth not to join wrongdoing, but also not to “play neutral” when classmates, roommates, or fellow students break God’s law.The need for brave obedience — obedience is learned through hard things, not through a religion that makes everything merely “fun.”Prayer at dawn and twilight — following the example of Jesus, young people must learn to meet God alone, receiving wisdom and power for daily tests.Rightly educated children as last-day witnesses — in the closing work, children’s voices will again be raised to give God’s final warning to the world.The sermon closes with a solemn appeal for children, youth, parents, teachers, and older believers to be “100-percent loyal,” to abandon compromise and Laodicean neutrality, and to stand up for Jesus now.Key ScripturesPsalm 8:2Psalm 144:12Isaiah 55:9Matthew 21:15–16Matthew 22:14Psalm 60:3Hebrews 5Key ThemesChildren and youth in the closing crisisStanding for Jesus when the majority forsake the truthCharacter formed before the crisis and revealed in the crisisJoseph, Daniel, the captive maid, Esther, and John the Baptist as youth examplesThe danger of neutrality in the face of wrongdoingBravery, loyalty, and obedience in Christian educationHard things as part of spiritual trainingDaily solitary prayer as the source of wisdom and powerRightly educated children giving the final messageThe call to be all out for God nowCompanion ReferencesEllen G. White, The Acts of the Apostles (Mountain View, CA: Pacific Press Publishing Association, 1911), 566.Ellen G. White, “The Responsibility of Parents,” Review and Herald, April 23, 1889.Ellen G. White, Child Guidance (Nashville: Southern Publishing Association, 1954), 491–92.Ellen G. White, Education (Mountain View, CA: Pacific Press Publishing Association, 1903), 259, 262.Ellen G. White, Testimonies for the Church, vol. 1 (Mountain View, CA: Pacific Press Publishing Association, 1948), 162.Ellen G. White, Testimonies for the Church, vol. 5 (Mountain View, CA: Pacific Press Publishing Association, 1948), 136.Ellen G. White, Testimonies for the Church, vol. 6 (Mountain View, CA: Pacific Press Publishing Association, 1948), 96, 202.Ellen G. White, The Desire of Ages (Mountain View, CA: Pacific Press Publishing Association, 1898), 70.Newsweek, January 28, 1963.Hymn: “Stand Up! Stand Up for Jesus,” by George Duffield Jr.Memorable Line“Character is not developed in a crisis. It’s only revealed in a crisis.”AboutTo My Dear Friends brings the timeless messages of Pastor W. D. Frazee to a new generation of listeners. Visit WDFsermons.org for the full sermon library.