Young People’s Blog

“Poverty and shame shall be to him that refuseth instruction; but he that regardeth reproof shall be honored” (Proverbs 13:18 JND).

There are many people today who greatly resent being corrected, even if they are wrong. In fact, we all naturally want to defend ourselves when we are wrong. But the only way to learn is to listen to those who know more than we do, and then, according to our verse today, we “shall be honored.”

Even though many people do not want to listen to correction, yet they appreciate others who are willing to learn, and want to be straightened out if they are wrong. Each one of us needs to remember this. Instead of “firing up” and getting angry if we are corrected, let us stop and listen. Perhaps we can learn something from that person, even if they correct us a little harshly, and in the wrong way. It is worthwhile listening, if we can learn how to do something a better way, or get a wrong idea out of our minds.

“Then Agrippa said unto Paul, Almost thou persuadest me to be a Christian. And Paul said, I would to God, that not only thou, but also all that hear me this day, were both almost, and altogether such as I am, except these bonds” (Acts 26:28-29).

When Paul (then Saul of Tarsus) was first saved, the Lord predicted through His servant Ananias that Paul would “bear My name before the Gentiles, and before kings” (Acts 9:15). Here in Acts 26, Paul was privileged to address some of the “higher ups” in the Roman Empire, and he gave a magnificent testimony. Although he was a prisoner and in chains, he did not envy any of them. When King Agrippa (who was a great-grandson of Herod the Great) mockingly said that Paul was almost persuading him to be a Christian, Paul confidently replied that he wished that all of them had what he had.

He did not, of course, want them to be in chains as prisoners, but he wished that all of them knew the Lord Jesus Christ as their Savior. As a believer in the Lord Jesus, he was richer than any of them.

Did any of them get saved as a result of Paul’s preaching? We do not know, but we do know that God’s word will “not return unto [Him] void” (Isaiah 55:11). It will have its effect, and we hope that some of those men took to heart what Paul said.

“In the latter times some shall depart from the faith…speaking lies in hypocrisy; having their conscience seared with a hot iron” (1 Timothy 4:1-2).

Paul warned Timothy that in the “latter times” (after the apostles had been taken home to be with the Lord), some would depart from the faith. Most of these would be unbelievers who professed to be Christians, although some might not have given up Christianity, but rather had departed from some of the truth of Christianity. The result of this would be that they would tell lies and have their consciences dulled, so that it did not bother them the way that it should, when they did wrong.

This can happen to us too, even though we are true believers. When you get a severe burn somewhere on your body, it heals with scar tissue, and this scar tissue is not nearly as sensitive to touch as normal tissue. This is what can happen to our consciences when we are constantly exposed to evil, and are not careful to maintain a good conscience. It is important for each of us to be like Paul, and to “exercise ourselves” always to have a good conscience. Do not let your conscience become seared (scarred). Someone with a good conscience is not afraid before God, or before other people.

“When he [Pilate] was set down on the judgment seat, his wife sent unto him, saying, Have thou nothing to do with that just man: for I have suffered many things this day in a dream because of Him” (Matthew 27:19).

The Lord sometimes uses dreams to speak to people, and God chose to give Pilate’s wife a solemn warning about the Lord Jesus. She knew that He was a just man, and she warned her husband to have nothing to do with Him. But Pilate could not avoid the Lord Jesus; he had to decide what to do with Him. However, God had given him a warning through his wife, and thus Pilate was thoroughly guilty when he condemned the Lord Jesus to death, for Pilate knew that He was innocent.

It was all predetermined by God that the Lord Jesus should suffer and die for sin, but that did not excuse the people who were responsible. God will hold Pilate responsible when he has to stand before Him in a coming day to answer for the way he treated His Son.

In the same way, if you are not saved, you cannot avoid facing who the Lord Jesus is. You must make a decision about what you will do about Him. He wants you to accept Him as your Savior today!

“And herein do I exercise myself, to have always a conscience void of offence toward God, and toward men” (Acts 24:16).

This is something that is very important for each of us as Christians. When we know we have done wrong, our conscience bothers us, and our souls are not free to enjoy the Lord. Also, we will lack that freedom and boldness that we should have before the world. The Apostle Paul had a tender conscience, and was bold before men like Felix, the Roman governor, and before the Jews too. He lived and acted before God, and because his conscience was clear before God, he was bold to speak and to preach the gospel.

Those around him—the Jews, Felix, and the other Roman authorities, did not have a clear conscience. They were corrupt, they told lies, they acted in their own interests, and did wrong things just to preserve the peace and protect themselves. Because of this, we read that “Felix trembled” when he heard Paul speak (Acts 24:25). On Monday we will see what happens when we are not careful to have a good conscience.

“Be not wise in thine own eyes: fear the Lord, and depart from evil” (Proverbs 3:7).

It is easy to be wise in our own eyes, and there is quite a bit of this attitude out in the world today. Sometimes people who do not know very much are very quick to express their views on certain subjects, and it only displays their ignorance to those who really do understand that particular topic. This has been described as the Dunning-Kruger effect, where people with low ability overestimate their skills and ability in a particular area. In simple terms, they are ignorant of their own ignorance. It is easy for any of us to act like this, for we all like to appear intelligent, educated, and well-informed.

However, Solomon, who wrote the book of Proverbs, was one of the wisest men who ever lived. He recognized that we need the wisdom that only the Lord can give us, and that we need this wisdom in order to “depart from evil” that is in this world. It is important to be humble before the Lord, and to realize that usually we do not know as much as we think we do.

“When the Lord thy God shall cut off the nations from before thee…take heed…that thou inquire not after their gods, saying, How did these nations serve their gods? Even so will I do likewise” (Deuteronomy 12:29-30).

This verse from the Old Testament contains a good lesson for us at any time. When the Israelites conquered the land of Canaan, they were not to inquire about the way the Canaanites served their gods. The Canaanites worshiped idols, and had all kinds of evil and disgusting practices. The Lord did not only want His people not to do those things; He did not want them even to know about them. He knew that if they knew about those evil things, they would soon want to do them.

Today you and I, as Christians, may be tempted to learn all about the evil in this world, and perhaps we think that knowing all about it will help us to avoid it. But often this is not what happens. Because we still have an old sinful nature, knowing about all those evil things only excites our sinful nature, and then we may think, “I would like to try that!” It is far better to learn only about the good things we should be doing, and then there will be no room for evil things. We can avoid the evil in this world by walking with the Lord; we do not need to know the details about the evil.

“And Felix, knowing accurately the things concerning the way, adjourned them” (Acts 24:22 JND).

Here we see more “gamesmanship” taking place, this time by the Roman governor Felix. First of all, the chief captain in Jerusalem sent Paul to Caesarea, because he did not know what to do with him. Now the Roman governor there does not know what to do with him either. He knew that Paul was not guilty of any crime, yet he wanted to please the Jews. He was also very familiar with Christianity, which at that time was simply called “the way.” He ought to have released Paul, but he knew that the Jews were famous for starting riots, and he did not want another one on his hands. To avoid this, he kept on adjourning, deferring, delaying, and hoping that the problem would go away.

This has often been the world’s way, but it should not be the Christian’s way. We should always do what is right, and trust the Lord for the consequences. To delay doing what is right because of possible unpleasant consequences for ourselves is to dishonor the Lord. As we remarked yesterday, the Lord is in full control of our circumstances, and will take care of us if we follow Him.

“But when Paul perceived that the one part were Sadducees, and the other Pharisees, he cried out in the council, Men and brethren, I am a Pharisee, the son of a Pharisee: of the hope and resurrection of the dead I am called in question” (Acts 23:6).

 If we go back to the history of the Apostle Paul’s arrest in Jerusalem, we now find him brought before the Jewish council. In human terms, what Paul said in our verse for today would be considered a “master stroke of gamesmanship.” When the council was attacking him, Paul introduced the one subject on which they disagreed with one another—the resurrection of the dead (notice verse 8). This threw the council into confusion and resulted in an uproar. They forgot about accusing Paul and instead fought with each other.

But was this the right thing to do? No, for we never need to resort to human means to achieve something, if we belong to the Lord. Paul admitted this himself, when later he was speaking before the Roman governor Felix in Caesarea (see Acts 24:20-21). Paul walked with the Lord, and quickly realized that the way he had acted before the council was not faith in the Lord. He was willing to admit publicly that what he had said was not right for a Christian. The Lord is over all, and can look after us; we do not need to resort to the world’s means to make things right.

“And the Lord said unto Moses…thy people, which thou broughtest out of the land of Egypt, have corrupted themselves” (Exodus 32:7).

“Now therefore, I [Moses] pray Thee…that I may find grace in Thy sight: and consider that this nation is Thy people” (Exodus 33:13).

When the people of Israel had made a golden calf to worship, the Lord was very angry with them. He then tested Moses by referring to them as “thy people,” and told Moses to let Him destroy them all. To replace them, the Lord said that He would make of Moses a great nation (see Exodus 32:10). It was a tempting offer, for what the people had done was very serious.

But Moses had spent time in the Lord’s presence, and he had the heart of the Lord towards the people. Also, he had the Lord’s honor and glory before him, and not the pride that would have wanted himself to be made a great nation. He continually reminded the Lord that they were His people, and that it was His power that had brought them out of Egypt. The Lord knew that Moses would react like this, and it was what His own heart wanted too. Then the Lord did not destroy the people, but forgave them, and told Moses to go ahead and lead them into the land of Canaan.