Friday, July 29, 2011

Thoughts for Young Men -3

Hey Guys,

This week I decided to turn the third chapter of Thoughts for Young Men into bullet points to emphasize the main points.

Try to get a clear view of the evil of sin

Think what an awful change sin has worked on all of our natures
Think what it has cost Christ to make atonement for sin, and to provide a pardon and forgiveness for sinners
Think what sin has already done on the earth
Think of all the misery and sorrow that sin has caused, and is causing, to this day

Isn’t it amazing to think that, although sin has destroyed everyone who holds fast to it, it still woos us to believe that it is the source of pleasure. Sin rarely comes to us clothed in immorality or violence, but often comes offering peace or pleasure. In a culture that blames the circumstances, it is easy to blame all the wrongs on sinful surroundings. But how many people have been unjustly wronged by sin? The answer is NONE. When judgment comes, it will not be fair to blame anyone but yourself for your sin.

Seek to become acquainted with our Lord Jesus Christ

It is not the mere knowing of Christ’s name that I mean. It is the knowing of his mercy, grace, and power; the knowing of Him not only by the hearing of the ear, but also by the experience of your heart.
To live in Christ, to draw all from Christ, to do all in the strength of Christ, to be ever looking to Christ; this is the true secret to spiritual prosperity.

Never forget that nothing is so important as your soul.

No friend, no companion deserves your confidence, who makes light of your soul’s concerns. The man who hurts you, your property, your character only does you temporary harm. Your true enemy is the one who plots to damage your soul.
The day is fast coming when the soul will be the one thing men will think of, and the only question of importance will be this, “Is my soul lost or saved?”

Remember, it is possible to be a young man and yet to serve God

The path to heaven is always narrow, whether we be young or old. There are difficulties, but God will give you the grace to overcome them.
He never gave commands to man which He would not give man the power to perform.

Determine that, as long as you live, to make the Bible your guide and adviser.

Read it [the Bible] with the prayer that the Holy Spirit’s grace will help you understand.
Read it reverently, as the word of God, not of man, believing implicitly that what it approves is right, and what it condemns is wrong.
Read it regularly. This is the only way to become “mighty in the Scriptures.”

Along with all these points, JC Ryle insists on the importance of good friends. He says that a “Good education, early habits of morality, sermons, books, all, he [Satan] knows well will avail you little, if you will only cling to ungodly friends.” How easy it is to become like those we hang out with! It is far easier to become more like the world than to become more like Jesus Christ. “Depend on it, bad company in this life is the sure way to procure worse company in the life to come.”

This week, as we wrap up Thoughts For Young Men, try to apply a principle to your life. It will never do any good to just read his words; it takes effort to make them of any benefit to our souls.

In Christ,

Andrew

Tuesday, July 12, 2011

Thoughts for Young Men -2

Dangers Facing Young Men

Young men pay special attention to the dangers we encounter now and in the future. These traps may ensnare us all and it would pay to "Be watchful, stand firm in the faith, act like men, be strong." (1 Corinthians 16:13) J.C. Ryle challenges us to be aware of these different pitfalls: pride, love of pleasure, thoughtlessness, contempt of Christianity, and the fear of man's opinions.

Pride - man's oldest and greatest downfall, too often reigns in the heart of the young man. The story of Rehoboam adequately demonstrates the consequences of pride. It not only caused a loss of the kingdom but also a loss of strong fellowship with God. JC Ryle challenges us to avoid pride by becoming "aware of our sinful tendency toward pride and not falling into the temptation to be proud of our own abilities, strength, knowledge, appearance, or cleverness."

One of the ways we can overcome our sinful, proud tendencies is to look to Jesus and His example. In fact, one of the last fighter verses we memorized

was Philippians 2:5-8. "Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross."

Let us continue to fight pride by being aware of our sin nature and being on our knees pleading for Christ-like humility, acknowledging that our gifts and strength come from God.

Another sin that we as young men fall into is the love of pleasure. As J.C. Ryle states "all the fruit this love of pleasure produces, and all the ways in which it may do you harm" cannot be listed. We must be alert and intentional if we are to guard against the dangers of the love of pleasure. There are three things that we could do to guard against this:

1) Flee from the opportunity of it
2) Flee from the company of those who might draw you into it
3) Flee from the places where you might be tempted to do it.

As Job made a covenant with his eyes, so we should be ready to act and guard against people, situations, and places that, make us vulnerable to fall into the love of pleasure. Proverbs 7 simply describes the young man as one "lacking sense." Interestingly, that is the last we hear of him before Solomon describes him as one going to the slaughter. Take all of the warnings of destroyed lives to heart: many have fallen simply because they did not fight this sin. So then let us be actively fighting this tendency so that we may not fall, by God's grace.

The last sin I wanted to touch on was the fear of others opinions. It is very difficult to set an example in the way we are called by God to live, when we are always checking over our shoulder, looking for our peers' approval.

Never be afraid of doing what is right because you feel alone or alienated. JC Ryle states, "how thankless is this fear! No one will really think better of you for it. The world always respects those the most who act boldly for God." Pursue the same attitude as Gardiner who said, "I fear God, and therefore I have no one else to fear."

Brothers, we have a high calling to resist these worldly temptations and to pursue godliness to the end. So then, let us not be ignorant of these dangers and pray earnestly that God would be pleased to spare us from these traps.
Join me this next week as we read Chapter 3.

Andrew K.

Monday, July 11, 2011

Thoughts for Young Men- 1

Thoughts for Young Men
Chapter 1: Reasons for Exhorting Young Men

• For one thing, there is the painful fact that there are few young men anywhere who seem to have any genuine religion
• For another thing, death and judgment are facing young men, even as others, and they all seem to forget it.
• For another thing, what young men will be, in all probability, depends upon what they are now, and yet they seem so easily to forget this.
• For another thing, the devil uses special diligence to destroy the souls of young men, and yet they seem not to know it.
• For another thing, young men need exhorting, because of the sorrow it will save them to begin serving God now.

J. C. Ryle encourages us to have genuine religion, meaning that we are led by the Spirit, on the narrow way that leads to life, setting affections upon things above, and taking up the cross and following Christ. This genuine religion has one main unspoken goal: the magnification of God’s name. The question arises: what does total commitment and reckless abandon for God’s sake look like? It means living life in the reality that there is death and judgment. God deems death for both the old and the young. While this is a tragedy, what is even more tragic is our apathetic attitude toward death. I see a need in my own life to be sober-minded and watchful, knowing that my adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion seeking someone to devour. Therefore, I need to submit myself to God, resist the devil, draw near to God, and he will draw near to me (James 4:7-8). I found the following verses in Galatians (Gal 6:7-10) powerful: "7Do not be deceived: God is not mocked, for whatever one sows, that will he also reap. 8For the one who sows to his own flesh will from the flesh reap corruption, but the one who sows to the Spirit will from the Spirit reap eternal life. 9And let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up. 10So then, as we have opportunity, let us do good to everyone, and especially to those who are of the household of faith."

Wow! God considers our saying, “Why can’t I enjoy life now and serve him later?” mocking the King of the universe! How quickly do I live for the now and pay no attention to the consequences! The mess that I so often find myself in is just the corruption that I deserve. May we, as young men, seek to sow to the Spirit so that we may reap from the Spirit eternal life. The second part of that verse is so easily stated, yet so difficult to realize. As this conference gets closer, let us not grow weary of doing good, not only in the high-visibility jobs, but also in the tedious behind-the-scenes jobs, for in due season we will reap if we do not give up. In this way, God plans good for us so that we may live without regrets.

May all of the glory in our attitudes, in our actions, in our work, and in our fellowship, be to His honor and glory,

Andrew K.

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