Young People’s Blog

Dear Young Christian,

Here is an excerpt from an old notebook of mine in regard to the Lord’s coming:

Remember “The coming of the Lord draweth nigh” (James 5:8).

The Lord’s coming may not be immediate, but we know that it is imminent. In other words, it is at hand…close by…forthcoming…at any moment…impending…soon…very soon…and perhaps sooner than any of us think!

Every hour, every moment of every day, we need to keep this hope before us. As we plan our life, our year, our weekend, our day, we should, through it all be “Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Savior Jesus Christ” (Titus 2:13).

Perusing this old notebook and finding this extract encouraged my own heart and helped me to refocus on this precious hope. I trust it will do the same for you.

Your Christian Friend,

Jim Hyland

Consider

“How precious also are Thy thoughts unto me, O God! how great is the sum of them” (Psalm 139:17)!

What thoughts will you have of God the Father and of His Son the Lord Jesus today?

As to the person of Christ, how good and needful it is for us to stop on this first day of the week and “Consider Him” (Hebrews 12:3).

•Consider the greatness and glories of His person.

• Consider His mighty power.

• Consider His lowliness and grace during His public ministry.

• Consider the work of atonement as He became the sin- bearer in those three hours of darkness.

• Consider His death, His burial, and His resurrection.

• Consider His ascension back to Heaven to sit down at the right hand of God His Father.

• Consider His return, both to call His own to Himself in the Father’s house, and also His return in power and glory to have His rightful place here in this world that once rejected Him.

Such a consideration cannot help but produce worship, praise, and a heart full of thanksgiving.

Justified

“Being justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus” (Romans 3:24).

On October 1, 1536, a debate on the subject of the justification of  sinners was held in Lausanne, Switzerland.

A number of questions were considered. How can a man be just before God? Is it sufficient to believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, who gave Himself for sinners once for all time? Must His sacrifice be renewed or completed?

The renowned reformer, William Farel, explained the subject clearly. Then a theologian who had been instructed to contradict him stood and stated:

“My brethren, I do not wish to commit the sin of denying divine truth. I confess that for some time I have been blind and deceived. Now I recognize that I have no other Savior and Master than Jesus alone…God is righteous! Man is a sinner! How can a man be just?”

“Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ…Much more then, being now justified by His blood, we shall be saved from wrath through Him.” (Romans 5:1, 9).

Monthly Question Page

Q. Please explain the different “beginnings” relative to
Genesis 1, John 1, and 1 John 1.

A. “In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth” (Genesis 1:1).

This is the beginning of creation when God “spake, and it was done; He commanded, and it stood fast” (Psalm 33:9). Creation had a beginning. “Through faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that things which are seen were not made of things which do appear” (Hebrews 11:3).

• “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God” (John 1:1-2).

This is a beginning without a beginning. It never began, because He is and always was the Eternal Word.

• “That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and our hands have handled, of the Word of life” (1 John 1:1).

This beginning is His incarnation. “The Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us” (John 1:14).

“The Same”

We live in an ever-changing world. Some of us who are a little older were reminiscing on what life was like back in the last half of the 20th century. It was staggering to consider all the changes each decade has brought.

Thankfully, there is something which never changes. The Bible is the unalterable, unchangeable Word of God.

“The grass withereth, the flower fadeth: but the Word of our God shall stand for ever” (Isaiah 40:8).

“For ever, O Lord, Thy Word is settled in heaven” (Psalm 119:89).

“Heaven and earth shall pass away: but My Words shall not pass away” (Luke 21:33).

We also have a Savior and Friend who never changes. In the last book of the Old Testament, He clearly states,

“For I am the Lord, I change not” (Malachi 3:6).

The New Testament confirms,

“Thou art the same, and Thy years shall not fail…Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and to day, and for ever” (Hebrews 1:12; 13:8).

In a world of turmoil and constant change, learn to trust that which is unchanging and that which will never fail.

Monthly Scripture Reading

Judges 16

1 Then went Samson to Gaza, and saw there an harlot, and went in unto her.

2 And it was told the Gazites, saying, Samson is come hither. And they compassed him in, and laid wait for him all night in the gate of the city, and were quiet all the night, saying, In the morning, when it is day, we shall kill him.

3 And Samson lay till midnight, and arose at midnight, and took the doors of the gate of the city, and the two posts, and went away with them, bar and all, and put them upon his shoulders, and carried them up to the top of an hill that is before Hebron.

4 And it came to pass afterward, that he loved a woman in the valley of Sorek, whose name was Delilah.

5 And the lords of the Philistines came up unto her, and said unto her, Entice him, and see wherein his great strength lieth, and by what means we may prevail against him, that we may bind him to afflict him; and we will give thee every one of us eleven hundred pieces of silver.

What God Did For Stephen

“And they stoned Stephen, calling upon God, and saying, Lord Jesus, receive my spirit. And he kneeled down, and cried with a loud voice, Lord, lay not this sin to their charge. And when he had said this, he fell asleep” (Acts 7:59-60).

The following is an excerpt from a book called Angels In White by Russell Elliott:

A young preacher, who afterwards became famous, once had a public discussion with a noted infidel. During the debate, the skeptic turned upon his youthful antagonist and said, “You say that your God is a God of love. What did He do for Stephen when he was being battered to death? Why didn’t He deliver him?” The preacher felt that the whole discussion turned upon his answer to this challenge. He silently lifted his heart to God and immediately there was given him this reply: “God did something better for Stephen than save him from the stones; He enabled him to pray for his murderers.” The skeptic was so impressed with the answer that he promised to come and hear the young man preach.

Dear Young Christian,

Recently, while I was going through a severe trial, someone sent me a slip of paper tucked in a card with a note of encouragement. Here is what it said:

• FRET NOT – Because God loves you!

“Yea, I have loved thee with an everlasting love: therefore with lovingkindness have I drawn thee” (Jeremiah 31:3).

•FAINT NOT – Because God holds you!

“I will help thee; yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of My righteousness” (Isaiah 41:10).

“For which cause we faint not; but though our outward man perish, yet the inward man is renewed day by day” (2 Corinthians 4:16).

• FEAR NOT – Because God keeps you!

 “The Lord is thy keeper” (Psalm 121:5).

“Kept by the power of God” (1 Peter 1:5).

This encouragement brought comfort to my heart, and if there is a reader going through some difficulty today my prayer is that it will do the same for you.

Your Christian Friend,

Jim Hyland

Love

“Thy love” (Song of Solomon 1:4).

Two small words, and yet what a panorama of wealth for our meditation!

First of all, think of the love of God in sending His Son, knowing how He would be treated and how much it would cost Him — going to Calvary to become the sin-bearer and to lay down His life for us. “God is love” (1 John 4:8). “God commendeth His love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us” (Romans 5:8). “In this was manifested the love of God toward us, because that God sent His only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through Him” (1 John 4:9).

Secondly, ponder the love of the Lord Jesus in coming in obedience to God His Father and for the eternal blessing of those He has redeemed. “Having loved His own which were in the world, He loved them unto the end” (John 13:1).

Let this stupendous, eternal love fill your mind and heart today and your soul will be filled with worship, praise, and thanksgiving, and you will surely echo the words of the Lord Himself,

“Greater love hath no man than this” (John 15:13).

Seeing Jesus

“Sir, we would see Jesus” (John 12:21).

This was the request of some Greeks, addressed to Philip of Bethsaida. At that time, the Greeks belonged to a very elite and cultured race. They were surrounded by beauty, art, worldly wisdom, and knowledge. No doubt they spent many hours in pleasure seeking and intellectual striving and debate.

However, when they heard of the Lord Jesus, something made them realize that there was something — some One — that surpassed all their earthly ambition and rational-
ism. Back at home they could contemplate great and wonderful things. But here was a Person that superseded all that.

Just so, today we have One who surpasses all that this world can offer. If there is an unsaved young person reading this calendar, my prayer is that you would have a burning desire, not only to see Jesus, but to come to know Him as Savior and Lord of your life. Like Saul of Tarsus, who later, as the Apostle Paul, could say, “That I may know Him” (Philippians 3:10). And as John records: “This is life eternal, that they might know Thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom Thou hast sent” (John 17:3).