Twelve Words of Help for Young Christians
Table of Contents
Twelve Helps for Young Christians
FIRST:
Renounce, once and for all, the legal thought that your acceptance before God depends on anything you do, or can do, or anything you are or can be. Christ, and not your condition, or your conduct, is the ground of your acceptance. God accepts Christ for you, and accepts you in Christ.
Read: Romans 4:24-25; 5:1-2; 7:24-25; 8:1-4; Colossians 1:12-18; Ephesians 1:3-9.
“He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blemish before Him in love—having foreordained us unto adoption as sons through Jesus Christ unto Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will, to the praise of the glory of His grace, which He freely bestowed upon us in The Beloved, in whom we have our redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of His grace, which He made to abound toward us in all wisdom and prudence.”
You’re not worthy—oh, no! Christ alone
Is righteous and true in God’s sight;
But you are in Him, Who for sin did atone,
In Whom is found all God’s delight.
SECOND:
Remember that you are now a Christian—Christ’s one, and as such seek to adorn “that beautiful Name by which you are called” (Acts 11:26; James 2:7). What is a Christian? Someone has said — “A Christian is C-H-R-I-S-T, Christ in full, and I-A-N, I AM Nothing, me in initials.” Look up, then, for grace to be nothing, and to let Christ be everything.
Read: Ephesians 3:14-21.
“That Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith—to the end that ye, being rooted and grounded in love, may be strong to apprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ which passeth knowledge.”
Oh, to be emptier, lowlier,
Mean, unnoticed, and unknown;
And to God, a vessel holier,
Filled with Christ, and Christ alone!
THIRD:
Be careful to have a “good conscience,” a conscience instructed by Scripture, pure and sensitive. Let conscience be like some finely-polished mirror that may be dimmed by the slightest breath of the Tempter. If you sin, confess it at once, not as a sinner to God, but as a child to the Father.
Read: Acts 24:16; Hebrews 13:18; 1 Timothy 1:5-6; 1 John 1:9-10; 2:1-2.
“Herein I also exercise myself to have a conscience void of offence toward God and men always.” “The end of the charge is love out of a pure heart and a good conscience and faith unfeigned; from which things some having swerved have turned aside unto vain talking.” “Pray for us, for we are persuaded that we have a good conscience, desiring to live honorably in all things.”
Speak a shade more kindly
Than you have before;
Pray a little oftener,
Serve a little more;
Cling a little closer
To the Father’s love;
Life will then grow liker
To the life above.
FOURTH:
Be as lenient to the faults of others as you are hard on your own. Remember those three gracious Fs: Forbear—Forgive—Forget. If you detect the smallest grain of malice in your heart toward another, do not rest while it is there. You cannot be happy with the Lord till it is gone.
Read: Romans 12:9-21; Ephesians 4:1-8,31-32; Philippians 2:1-17; Colossians 3:12-18.
“Let all bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and clamor, and railing, be put away from you, with all malice; and be ye kind one to another, tender-hearted, forgiving each other, even as God also in Christ forgave you.”
Oh, what a little thing can turn
A heavy heart from sigh to song!
A smile can make the world less stern,
A word can cause the soul to burn
With glow of heaven all night long.
FIFTH:
Keep a large heart as you tread the narrow way. By a large heart I mean a heart that takes in “all saints.” The path of faithfulness amid the ruins becomes increasingly narrow and exclusive, but a heart filled with the love of Christ expands, and becomes increasingly large and inclusive.
Read: The term “all saints” is found in the following texts: Romans 16:15; 2 Corinthians 1:1; 13:13; Ephesians 1:15; 3:18; 6:18; Philippians 1:1; 4:21; Colossians 1:4; 1 Thessalonians 3:13; Philemon 5; Hebrews 13:24; and Revelation 8:3.
Have you had a kindness shown?
Pass it on.
‘Twas not given for thee alone;
Pass it on.
Let it travel down the years,
Let it wipe another’s tears,
Till in heaven the deed appears,
Pass it on!
SIXTH:
In any difficulty let the Lord be your first resource. You have no wiser, kinder nor stronger Friend. Whatever, then, be the care — be it in the home circle, the school circle, the business circle, the Church circle, the world circle, or the tiny circle of your own soul—go to Him alone about it. He delights to enter into our little concerns, and the simpler our faith the better it pleases Him.
Read: Philippians 4:4-10; 1 Peter 5:5-10.
“In nothing be anxious; but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God: and the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall guard your hearts and your thoughts in Christ Jesus.”
No human voice may cheer thee,
No earthly listener hear thee,
But, oh, one Friend is near thee,
The kindest and the best;
Whose smile can banish sadness,
Whose presence fills with gladness,
The solitary breast.
SEVENTH:
Do not be content with praying, but grow in the school of secret prayer. It is a fact that the more you pray, the more you want to pray; and the less you pray, the less you want to pray. Depend upon it, when you feel least inclined for prayer, then your soul is most in need of it. Turn everything into prayer, and soon prayer will become a state as well as an act.
Read: Matthew 26:36-47; Hebrews 5:7-9; 1 Thessalonians 5:17-18. Luke presents Christ seven times as alone in prayer: Luke 3:21; 5:16; 6:12; 9:18,28; 11:1; 22:41.
“Watch and pray, that ye enter not into temptation; the spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.” “The end of all things is at hand: be ye therefore of sound mind, and be sober unto prayer” (1 Peter 4:7-9).
God’s ships of treasure sail upon a sea
Of boundless love, of mercy infinite,
To change their course, retard their onward way,
No wind nor wave hath might.
Prayer is the tide for which the vessels wait
Ere they can come to port; but if it be
The tide is low, then how can’st thou expect
The treasure-ship to see?
EIGHTH:
Never refuse any teaching because it is new to you; but never accept anything till you see it for yourself in the Word of God! Inability to receive is not tantamount to rejection. Do not judge the doctrine of an address by the man who delivers it, nor gauge the truth of an article by the initials at its close. Be sure though slow in acquiring truth. All that we receive from God is taught us by Him in this way. Though you may get truth through a human channel, get it from God. Learn to learn at the Master’s feet, and then you will have no need to learn to unlearn.
Read: Isaiah 28:10; John 16:12-16; 1 Thessalonians 5:10-22; 2 Peter 3:1-2,17-18.
“Pray without ceasing. In everything give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus to you-ward. Quench not the Spirit. Despise not prophesyings. Prove all things: hold fast that which is good. Abstain from every form of evil.”
Make sure of Truth,
And Truth will make you sure:
It will not shift, nor fade, nor die,
But like the heavens endure.
Man and his earth
Are varying day by day:
Truth cannot change, nor ever grow
Feeble and old and gray.
NINTH:
In connection with private Scripture-study there are five important things.
Read:
Reading, 1 Timothy 4:13;
Searching, Acts 17:11;
Finding, Psalm 119:162;
Meditating, Jeremiah 15:16;
Practicing, James 1:22-27.
In Reading you skim the surface—a pleasant exercise. In Searching you let down your line into its depths. In Finding you bring up something which makes you tingle all over with holy glee. In Meditating you feed upon and enjoy what you have. In Practicing you show it forth in your life before others,
“As newborn babes, long for the spiritual milk which is without guile, that ye may grow thereby unto salvation, if ye have tasted that the Lord is gracious” (1 Peter 2:1-3).
A glory gilds that sacred page,
Majestic like the sun:
Which gives a light to every age,
Which gives, but borrows none.
TENTH:
Beware of evil speaking, in all its multiplied and invidious forms. Prudently, kindly, and alone, tell your brother or sister the fault, and speak to God about it, but do not ever whisper it to another. Evil speaking is a most prolific cause of sorrow, and always betrays a soul out of communion, and always grates upon a soul in communion. “If we come forth from the closet of communion, the atmosphere of evil speaking will be to us as the tainted air of some great city to one that has been breathing the pure air of a mountain top, or the fresh breezes of the seashore.”
Read: Ephesians 4:25-27; James 1:26; all of James 3; 4:11-12.
If any little word of mine
Can make a life the brighter,
If any little song of mine
Can make a heart the lighter,
God help me speak that little word,
And take my life of singing,
And drop it in some lonely vale,
To set the echoes ringing.
ELEVENTH:
Keep a warm gospel-heart. Christian experience, according to Philippians, is full of the gospel. Paul was as hearty in gospel work at the close of his course as at the commencement. Compare Acts 9 with 2 Timothy. Never deceive yourself by the thought that because you are getting on in higher lines of truth, therefore your interest in gospel work must flag. The joy of Father, Son and Spirit in Luke 15 is essentially a gospel joy. Muse well on that word: “Joy shall be in heaven over one sinner that repenteth.” Take care not to follow in the wake of the elder son: “He was angry and would not go in.”
Read: Luke 15; Philippians 1: 12-21; 1 Corinthians 1:23-24; 15:1-4; Colossians 4:2-6.
“We preach Christ crucified, the power of God and the wisdom of God.” “I am set for the defense of the gospel. What then? Only that in every way, whether in pretense, or in truth, Christ is proclaimed, and therein I rejoice, yea, and will rejoice.”
Lord, lay some soul upon, my heart,
And love that soul through me,
That I may nobly do my part
To bring that soul to Thee.
O Savior, heed my fervent cry,
I long Thy Name to glorify
In bringing souls to Thee!
TWELFTH:
Finally, never take your Christianity from Christians. If you want perfect Christianity, get your eye on God’s perfect Christ, He who said, “Without Me ye can do nothing” (John 15:5). Tell Him of this, and seek grace so to abide in Him that you shall intuitively follow in His steps, and walk as He walked (1 Peter 2:21-24). Avoid asceticism, monkish piety, on the one hand, and worldly conformity on the other. See Colossians 2:20-23 for the one, and Romans 12:1-3 for the other. View all down here in the perspective of Christ Crucified, Risen, and Ascended, and live in sweet and present association with Him where He now is. Let Him daily bring you, in spirit, into His banqueting-house, there to feast and to commune under the shadow of His love. Thus others will “take knowledge of you, that you have been with Jesus,” and a gentleness of spirit, combined with all the outward activities of inward devotedness, will plainly mark you out as His. Let us together breathe this prayer:
Lord, may our walk and service be
An image bright of things above;
A glass to show the unity
Of Father, Son and Spirit’s love;
A living picture to display
The love that we can ne’er repay!
“Wherefore, my beloved brethren, be ye steadfast, unmovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labor is not in vain in the Lord” (1 Corinthians 15:58).
From “The Young Christian.” For May, June 1915.
The head may overgrow the heart, but the heart cannot overgrow the head. Intellectual interest in Scripture may supplant affection for the Lord, but as He is better known, the believer is better able to bear the knowledge of the deeper mysteries. We may get interested in books, or in our Bibles, and yet be sluggish toward Christ. We may give up extreme worldliness, and yet be carried away from communion with Christ in the whirl of religious activities.
Fly-leaf of old Hymn-book. 1856.
Open mine eyes, that I may see
More beauty, blessed Lord, in Thee:
Unstop mine ears, that I may hear
Thy voice, in accents soft and clear.
Keep Thou my body, spirit, soul,
Completely ‘neath Thy blest control,
And fill me with Thy fulness, Lord;
Then Thou alone shalt be adored.