Address to Young Christians
Table of Contents
Address to Young Christians: Part 1
Hebrews. 13:7-16HEB 13:7-16
Part I.
“Remember your leaders who have spoken to the Word of God; and considering the issue of their conversation, imitate their faith.”
I take it that this verse refers to those who have gone, on before; while those who might be taking the lead or acting as guides among us at the present time are treated in the 17th verse. So understanding that, we have brought before us in the 7th verse the admonition to remember those that have gone on before, and have blazed the way into which God has graciously brought us. Some of them were used directly for our blessing, for our enlightenment, for our instruction; some of them were perhaps used indirectly. And this means to remember them in a practical way; and the way we show that we do remember them, is by imitating their faith.
There never was a servant of God, outside of the blessed Lord Himself, in whom we could not find faults, both in his life individually and in his service; but it does not say to "imitate their failures," but "imitate their faith." So, if we were considering the Apostle Paul, for instance, we would not imitate his mistake in willfully a going against the admonition of the Spirit of God, and putting himself into a place of danger in Jerusalem; for that is not the part of his life which we are to imitate, but we are to imitate that part of his life which was the motive which led him to go there.
“Remember them." In connection with this thought, perhaps it would be well to drop a word about these who were used of God to give us the truth which we are enjoying here today. Of course, we got it from the Word of God-for all the truth that is to be had is contained in the Word of God-so I would not be misquoted in what I am going to say. But those whom the Spirit of God used to bring out what was already in the Word of God, to unfold to us, to give us understanding in it-and I am not beside Christianity when I speak thus, because we read of a man's journeying from Jerusalem, sitting in his chariot, reading his Bible. Some might say,
“That was sufficient; what more did he want?”
The Spirit of God did not say that that was sufficient, and the servant of the Lord joined himself to him, and said to him,
“Understandest thou what thou readest?" And his answer was,
“How can I except some man should guide me, or teach me?" And straightway he bid Philip to come up into the chariot; and Philip began and preached to him "Jesus.' That is what I mean to imitate in those whom God has used to give us the teachings in Scripture. It is in no wise saying that we are putting them on a par with the Apostle Paul, but it is honoring and giving a due place to those whom God has been pleased to use to give us marvelous truth.
I believe that one way we young people should remember them, is by familiarizing ourselves with what they have left to us in the way of written ministry; and I fear that there is an increasing dearth of good, sound, solid reading among our young people today. There is a reason for it, perhaps many reasons; but the multiplicity of reading matter is always presenting something else that we can read at the particular moment; and always that at a later season we can indulge in something that is more permanent. So one has to set himself with a good deal of purpose of heart, if one is going to read this written ministry.
Let me ask, How many of you have read so that you can say you have thoughtfully and intelligently read what was written by Mr. Darby, Mr. Wigram, Mr. Bellett and Mr. Kelly? Have you familiarized yourself with some of their precious ministry? Are you conversant with the writings of these who were, so to speak, the instruments the Holy Spirit used to restore the Word that was so long covered up by the traditions of men during the preceding centuries? If not, I heartily advise you to familiarize yourself with them, and teach yourself to enjoy their ministry. These were the servants God used to give us the truth at the beginning. So "remember them.”
As we said before, do not imitate their failures. You may say that some of them failed. Granted! We have all failed, for that matter. But find out something of their ministry, and learn to know the writings of these wonderful servants of God.
In the 8th verse we have brought before us the blessed person of the Lord Jesus Christ "the same yesterday, and today, and forever." How good that God has given us an object that does not change! His own blessed Son, forever the same. And the characteristics of the fathers, as we know from 1 John 1:1; 2:13, is that they know Him who was in the beginning.
We learn from those who were older and ripe in faith that they became increasingly occupied with the Person of Christ. And I have been persuaded for a long time that that is the only true test of growth in the things of God increasing occupation with Christ, with His Person, and with His work.
To be continued.
Address to Young Christians: Part 2
Part 2.
“Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and today, and forever.”
Young folks, is it not fine that we have an object for our hearts that can not change, that has not changed, that will not change! Everything about us is changing we are made conscious of it as we look back over our lives, and see how some of the opinions that men held so tenaciously just a few years back, have been exploded, and supplanted by others; and today, what men believe to be the truth, is not what they thought was the truth yesterday. If we go to any great library and view the volumes under any particular head, we shall find that there is a big section full of books that have become obsolete; and why that? Because the opinions of men are like the shifting sand. And not only that, but man, in his limited time and capacity, is always finding out new things and adding to his store of knowledge. So there is an ever-increasing process of change going on.
But it was not so with the Lord Jesus. When He was here as a man on earth, He was at the same time God; He was the "I AM"; He was the One that could say, "Before Abraham was, I am." Nothing could be added to that blessed Person. As God, nothing could be added to His knowledge. He was here as the One Who was from the beginning. He was in the beginning with God, and He was God; and He was ever that though, true, He was man also.
And as man He was pleased to take that place, He was pleased to say, "My goodness extendeth not to Thee," but that was the position He took willingly, and not by compulsion. At the same time, He was ever the same.
In Psa. 102 we get Him presented in the dignity of His Person as the Eternal One; and the title is given to Him (Verse 27), "Thou art the same." I think that is one of the grandest titles our blessed Lord had "the Same." How our souls need One like that, One who does not change, One on Whose Word we can stake everything, for time and eternity.
Dear young people, some of you are in school, where you hear the various changing opinions of men about many things. You are sometimes tempted to be a little distressed, or a little perplexed about what you hear; and you wonder about some of the things you have been taught. But remember this: Always retreat into this grand and solemn fact:
“Jesus Christ, the same yesterday, and today, and forever" the Unchangeable One. If you will have Him before your souls, it will be a mighty power in keeping you from these other things. Refer everything to the Person of Christ; take it right back to Him: How does that affect my blessed Lord? If I accept what I am hearing, what reflection does it make on the Person of my Lord? Ever keep that One before you Who is the same, and it will be a mighty stake to your soul.
Now, we live in a day when we stand in need of the admonition in the 9th verse:
“Be not carried about with divers and strange doctrines.”
I wonder if there ever was the like of it in the Church's history as there is today. I think not. There never was a time when there were so many tares and noxious weeds as thickly grown up as today. And just as in the realm of nature, there is an ever-increasing battle against various obnoxious pests that appear; so it must be in the spiritual realm, for it is imperiled by an ever-increasing number of these divers and strangs doctrines, which put forth very fair claims-how speciously they can argue-and they get a following.
If you and I are to be kept from falling into them, if we are to be kept from swelling their ranks, what is going to keep us? The blessed precious Word of God.
What is a "diverse and strange doctrine?" There is only one way to find out, i.e., to test how it squares with the Word of God. If we have before us the Word of God, we shall be kept. If not, we shall be swept into some of them, like multitudes have before.
And it is not beside the mark to Speak thus to a company of young people who have been gathered out. We know there have been young people who once sat in our meetings, taught in our Sunday schools, who today are followers, and some exponents, of the divers and strange doctrines; some of which doctrines are positively evil and wicked.
If you and I are going to abide in the truth, if we are going to miss this error of going about "with divers and strange doctrines," we must have our hearts established; and what is going to establish us? The grace and truth of God in our hearts.
“Not with meats"-i.e., you will never get established by going through the legal exercises of religion; that will never establish you. Legality-going through rites and ceremonies will never establish the soul.
What accounts for a sense in one's soul of what the grace of God has done in giving the blessed Lord Jesus, first as our Savior; now, as our Lord, and the coming One, the Person of Christ? Grace, from start to finish, is what will establish the soul.
(Continued from Page 72)
(To Be Continued)
Address to Young Christians: Part 3
Hebrews. 13:7-16HEB 13:7-16
Part 3
“We have an altar, whereof they have no right to eat which serve the tabernacle." Who are the servants of the tabernacle? They are religionists; people who believe in having religion; and that religion consisting chiefly in forms and ceremonies and rituals-the world is full of them, and increasingly so.
Of what does Christendom consist today: Does it emphasize the simple, blessed truth of the Gospel as revealed in the Word of God, and practiced by the apostles in the beginning? O, no! What we have around us today is one great, complex mixture. Various elements are found there, but I suppose the predominant element is Judaism; i.e., bringing into the present what belonged to the old, and seeking to revamp Judaism into a kind of Christianity. In some cases it is not quite that bad, but the Christianity that is found is more or less tempered and weakened with the introduction of the elements that belonged to Judaism.
God keeps these things separate, and if we learn to keep them separate, it will be a mighty help to our souls. We must not confuse; each of those is good in its place; each God-given, and having distinctly its place. And those who are going on with that which speaks of the tabernacle, which speaks of ritualism, and a God who can only be approached through a priesthood, serve the tabernacle, and they have no right to be servants of the altar, which we have. God refuses to be a partner to anything of the kind.
Christ is now "the way, the truth, and the life"; He is the door, and if we are going to have dealings with Him, it must be on the ground of what we have revealed to us in the New Testament. If we are going on with what was Judaism, we shall lose the sense of what Christianity is; and if we lose that, we shall lose the liberty of Christianity. The Lord Jesus promised to set us free.
“Ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free." John 8:32. He further said,
“By Me, if any man enter in, he shall be saved, and shall go in and out, and find pasture" (John 10:9) what is that? That is liberty, not bondage. Are you finding it bondage, you who are seeking to go on with the Lord? I think not. I do not see any marks on your faces indicating that you are enduring the rigors of legality.
“Ye shall go in and out, and find pasture" this is different from the restrictions of a hard Jewish system. You and I do not wish to go back to what has a great big "Thou shalt not" over it that is Judaism, but we want to maintain ourselves in the liberty wherein Christ has made us free.
“We have a altar, whereof they have no right to eat which serve the tabernacle." Our altar is Christ. Yes He was the altar; He was the offerer; He was the priest; He was everything.
“For the bodies of those beasts, whose blood is brought into the sanctuary by the high priest for sin, are burned without the camp. Where-fore Jesus also, that He might sanctify the people with His own blood, suffered without the gate.”
Christ has a sanctified people, and He sanctified them, set them apart, with His own blood. Dear young believer, you know that that blood has sanctified you, it sets you apart. Regardless now of what your life is, if you are a saved and converted soul, you are sanctified by the blood of Jesus; and the blood that sanctified you, was shed outside the gate.
It was not in Jerusalem, it was not within the shadow of the temple, but it was outside the gate. All that great imposing system, of which the temple was a center, was left behind. The Lord went out of that city which laid claim to being the place where God had set His name; He turned His back on the whole thing, and He bore His cross outside its gates; and there on that lonely hill on Calvary He suffered outside the gate. And where is Christ now? Where is He? He is outside the gate. If that is true, here is a blessed "Wherefore." There are many of those in Scripture.
We have been called into a kind of sacrifice. It is not the blind worship of the heathen, it is not without reason. God has His "wherefores" and here is one of them:
“Wherefore Jesus also, that He might sanctify the people with His own blood, suffered without the gate. Let us go forth therefore unto Him, without the camp, bearing His reproach.”
Now there is something for you; He went out, He left the thing behind, He went out to sanctify you with His own precious blood. Now God says,
“Let us go forth therefore unto Him.”
I suppose that most of the young folks here today can say, "Well, we have done that." This is one of the most familiar Scriptures one could speak on. And most of you say,
“Well, I have done that, 'Let us go forth therefore unto Him without the camp.'”
I wonder if you have? You are associating with those who have been gathered unto His blessed Name thank God for that but has this come as a result of an individual faith with you? Have you ever individually and conscientiously taken the step, or has it just been a sort of mass affair with you, with the meeting or with the circumstances you found yourself in? Or have you definitely and individually gone forth unto the Lord Jesus?
“Let us go forth therefore unto Him" it is unto Christ. I find it distinctly different in my soul to have Christ as my object, than to have in a sort of abstract way, the truth as my object.
Being occupied with the truth, and losing the sense in one's soul that Christ, His blessed Person, is the issue. If we have before us only the truth abstracted from Him, we lose the blessing of it, for He said, "I am the truth." But is it with you that you have simply accepted truth?
Have you acquiesced in what father and mother have taught you? what you have learned in attending the meetings, or have you followed Christ for yourself? Have you said,
“Yes, Lord Jesus, I want to go forth unto Thee?”
Was He that drawing object that led you forth unto Himself? Going forth unto Him is different from just an abstract going forth.
One finds all over the country, people who are more or less disheartened with what they found in organized Christianity. Their souls have become hungry for something more real, and they have left what they were connected with; and they have gone out. A great many of them have become just drifters; they do not know where they are; they have left something that was not according to God, but they have not found a center, have not found a resting place. That won't do. We must have an object. Going forth alone is not what is contemplated here; it is "going forth unto Him" it is an object for the soul.
(Continued from Page 101)
(To be continued)
Address to Young Christians: Part 4
Hebrews 13:7-16.HEB 13:7-16
Part 4.
“Let us go forth therefore unto Him without the camp.”
I believe that it is not necessary to enlarge on what the camp is-we know what it is, and what it was in Paul's time. It was a simple thing to define it then, but there is no temple or tabernacle at Jerusalem today. There is no priesthood going through the forms and ceremonies of Judaism in the City of Jerusalem, but even if there were, you and I would not be vitally concerned in it, for Jerusalem is thousands of miles away and we probably could never get there, so that in its literal application it would not concern you.
But there is that that answers to the camp, and I believe no intelligent and spiritual mind can fail to see what it is; it is what man has set up; it is done according to the mind of men; it is that that pictures and colors Judaism; it is going back to the elements of the law, the weak and beggarly elements of the world; and in some way or other you get a religion out of it that is not according to the simple, blessed truth of the revelation we have in Christ. It is taking tip the old argument of John 4:19-26, as to whether Mount Gerezim or Jerusalem was the place where men ought to worship; the Lord Jesus set that aside long ago; He said, it is not a question of this mountain or Jerusalem; the hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth.”
True worship is a spiritual worship, and must have Christ for its object, and it must be in submission to the Word of God.
To Philadelphia, the sixth of the seven churches, the Lord Jesus presented Himself as "He that is holy, and He that is true." If you expect to be a Philadelphian and I trust you all do, I trust that that is the desire of your heart it must be in accordance with Him that is holy and true; it must be along a pathway that is characterized by holiness and truth.
“Let us go forth therefore unto Him without the camp, bearing His reproach." Yes, reproach goes with it. I have been criticized in times past for dwelling too much on the reproach side of things. I suppose that all of us are somewhat lopsided in what we have to say, and I am quite willing to plead guilty. But in this Scripture we do get brought before us very distinctly that there is reproach, and that the reproach of Christ in connection with the out side pathway. Have you in your individual life, young believer, tasted it? Have you realized it, and have you rejoiced in it?
Perhaps some one here says that we should not be thinking of that at all, whether we are bearing reproach or whether we are not. Per, haps so, but if so what did the Lord Jesus mean, in Luke 6:22, 23?
“Blessed (which means, happy) are ye, when men shall hate you, and when they shall separate you from their company, and shall reproach you, and cast out your name as evil, for the Son of Man's sake.
“Rejoice ye in that day, and leap for joy: for, behold, your reward is great in heaven: for in the like manner did their fathers unto the prophets." Luke 6:23.
I will never forget the first time that Scripture was called to my attention, by an aged brother. I had just met with a very severe rebuff for seeking to speak to another person about the Lord, and I felt it very keenly; and this dear old servant turned to that Scripture, and said,
“Why you ought to be jumping and leaping for joy.”
“Far from it; I am not feeling that way at all," I answered.
“You have a right to leap for joy," he said
This impressed that Scripture on my heart, and I have never forgotten it.
There is a joy and there is a satisfaction in bearing reproach for Christ. How far do we know what it is? Have you gone forth unto Him, and are you bearing His reproach? Have you gone all the way? How far have you gone?
I believe there are those who have stopped at the half-way house. You have accepted Him as your Savior; and if asked if you were saved, you could give a positive answer. I was talking to a young man, and he said that he was saved; and I asked him a few more questions, and found that so far, he was stopping at the half-way house. There was not that full, complete clean cut of things; he was not willing to go all the way.
Speaking now to those who have reached the years of discretion and maturity in divine things, what reason do you give, young people, to the Lord for the fact that you are not found remembering Him in His death? I know that some of you do remember Him, but some do not-some are going on, and seeking to live their lives. They are not carrying out that simple blessed request:
“This do in remembrance of Me.”
What reason do you give the Lord Jesus for that? I trust you are not laboring under the delusion of a feeling of unworthiness which sometimes keeps souls away. Do not let that keep you away. If that were a sufficient reason for any of us to be kept away from the table on next Lord's day morning there would not be a single person that would be remembering the Lord in His death. No intelligent Christian could partake of those sacred emblems, and say,
“I am taking these because I am worthy in my life and ways to partake of them.”
That is not the ground on which we partake, but on the ground of the worthiness of another, the worthiness of Christ. Yes, dear young person, you are washed in that precious blood, if you are one who has been washed and redeemed; if you are a member of the body of Christ as you are, if you believe the Gospel of salvation, and thus you have a right and a title to be at His table. And if you stop short of it, there is just that one measure in which you have refused to go all the way.
Address to Young Christians: Part 5
Hebrews. 13:7-16HEB 13:7-16
Part 5
“Let us go forth therefore unto Him without the camp, bearing His reproach.”
Yes, it is a place of reproach; and always will be. I believe that God intended the name of His beloved Son to be connected with reproach in this world, since man rejected Him and cast Him out. God has as much as said,
“Now, if you want to follow Him in that world, you will have to understand that the world cast Him out; and you will have to become identified with a rejected man.”
Then how good to get Verse 14 before the soul. Dear young person, get before your soul that,
“Here have we no continuing city.”
I know that that is in direct collision with what is all about you. I know that is all out of tune with what you hear in the world. If you read the world's periodicals-magazines, editorials-you will find that this is in direct contradiction with the whole thing.
The world's cry is that we are building a bigger and better world; if we are building automobiles, we are building them bigger and better; if we are building buildings, we are building them bigger and better. The whole thought of today is to build for the future, to build to endure. I have seen on Packards: "Built for eternity"-those are man's thoughts, while the Word of God says,
“Here have we no continuing city.”
The viewpoint you take is going to make a tremendous difference with you; if you are living for another world, if you are expecting the coming one, it is going to make a difference in the way you build, in the sacrifices you make; you are going to count the cost of what you are about to engage upon and perhaps you are going to question-using a not very elegant proverb-whether the game is worth the candle. I hope you do.
Here have we Christians no continuing city, but we seek one to come, or, we seek "the coming one." God has a city, a metropolis, a home; it is the coming one which you and I are about to step into and who knows how soon? Who knows how many steps are ahead of you? Who knows whether a hundred or only a dozen are yet before you, before you find yourself gathered into that coming city? If you knew that you were only a dozen steps hence, how little you would value things that you are staking high by now!
Another translation of verse 15 reads:
“By Him therefore let us offer the sacrifice of praise continually to God, that is, the fruit of the lips confessing His name." Ah, that is what we need, "confessing His name""the fruit of our lips confessing His name.”
Yes, we confess that Name to God, and that is a sweet savor unto Him. Then we confess that Name to a hostile world, and that is what brings on to us the reproach, and likewise the joy and satisfaction that we are bearing reproach for Christ. That is our privilege; if I can present it to you as a privilege; a blessed, precious privilege.
Here is the recipe for a happy Christian life: Walking in communion and dependence and obedience to the blessed Lord. It is going all the way through. It is going on unto Him, it is confessing His Name.
What do we gain in hiding His Name? You and I have hidden the name of Christ in times past; I have; I have covered it up when I had a chance to confess it. I confess with shame that I have earned nothing in hiding the Name of Christ except a sense of disappointment, of remorse in my soul, a sense of shame, that I, poor, miserable wretch; worm of the dust, had been ashamed to confess the Name of my blessed Lord.
In closing, let us touch on verse 16:
“To do good and to communicate of your substance forget not: for with such sacrifices God is well pleased." (N. T.)
I think, generally speaking, that side of things will take care of itself if the other side is in healthy condition. But God says, "Don't forget it; don't forget the pocketbook side of things." It is in the Word. But, O! the first and foremost thing, the glory of Christ in your life! That is God's side of things, in confessing that blessed Name; and that is the secret of Christian happiness.
(Concluded)