Young People’s Blog

Monthly Question Page

Q. Is it possible for a believer to reach a certain spiritual level where they will not sin anymore? I hear my Christian friends talking about sin being burnt out, is that possible?

A. The simple answer to both questions is NO! As long as we are in this world, we still have the sinful flesh in us. It is true we have the very life and nature of Christ, which cannot sin. “Whosoever is born of God sinneth not.” (1 John 5:18). However, if we are honest with ourselves, we have to admit that often we let the flesh have the upper hand. There is not a day, or perhaps an hour, that goes by, that we do not sin in some way or another, either in thought or deed. Here are some verses that verify this:

“If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us” (1 John 1:8).

“If we say that we have not sinned, we make Him a liar, and His Word is not in us” (1 John 1:10).

Only when we reach Heaven will we be completely done with sin and sinning. “It doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when He shall appear, we shall be like Him; for we shall see Him as He is” (1 John 3:2).

Good Men

“Walk in the way of good men” (Proverbs 2:20).

“A lover of good men” (Titus 1:8).

The man of the world escapes evil by knowing its crookedness, the believer escapes it by knowing good, not evil. The Apostle Paul said to the Christians at Rome, “I would have you wise unto that which is good, and simple concerning evil” (Romans 16:19). This is always the way of protection from wickedness.

An older brother once exhorted us as young people,

“What characterizes the evil man is pride, leaving the path of uprightness to walk in darkness. Such rejoice to do evil. The fear of the Lord is the full lesson of life. If we walk in the ways of good men, and follow their example, we will be preserved by the power of righteousness with blessing to follow. To learn and to follow wisdom’s teaching leads to favor with God and man”

Here is instruction to Timothy concerning this subject: “Flee also youthful lusts: but follow righteousness, faith, charity, peace, with them that call on the Lord out of a pure heart” (2 Timothy 2:22). Do you keep company with those who desire to please the Lord and walk according to His truth? It will be a real blessing and safeguard from evil!

Corrosion

I read the following statement the other day:

“Hatred and bitterness corrode the container in which it is carried.”

It reminded me of the following verses:

“Let all bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and clamor, and evil speaking, be put away from you, with all malice” (Ephesians 4:31).

“Looking diligently lest any man fail of the grace of God; lest any root of bitterness springing up trouble you, and thereby many be defiled” (Hebrews 12:15).

Many believers have spoiled their joy in the Lord, their testimony to the unsaved, and their usefulness in the service of Christ because of hatred and bitterness. These two things are like a slow-growing cancer, which, if left unchecked, eventually eats away at all that is for the glory of God.

The remedy is found in the next verse of Ephesians 4, which states, “And be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ’s sake hath forgiven you” (verse 32). And in Hebrews 12:14, “Follow peace with all men, and holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord.”

Wisdom

Staying in a guest room this weekend, I noticed a wooden wall plaque with the following quote from Abraham Lincoln:

“I have been driven many times upon my knees

by the overwhelming conviction

that I had nowhere else to go.”

I remembered reading this quote before and remembered that there was more to it than that. So, I looked it up on the Internet, and, sure enough, there was more. Here it is:

“My own wisdom and that of all about me

seemed insufficient for that day.”

If we all remembered the truth of this quote it would save us a lot of trouble and frustration. Here is how the Word of God puts it: “If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him” (James 1:5). Do you lack wisdom in some situation today? Go in prayer and dependence to the one who declares, “Counsel is Mine, and sound wisdom” (Proverbs 8:14).

Dear Young Christian:

As you look back over this past year, ask yourself these questions:

1. Was the Lord number 1 in my life?

2. Was it a year of personal spiritual growth?

3. Did I use my time wisely?

4. Did I use my resources wisely?

5. Was there fruit for God’s glory?

6. Were others blessed because of my testimony?

7. Did I live in view of eternity and the Lord’s coming?

When the Apostle Paul looked back over his Christian life, he could say, “I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith” (2 Timothy 4:7). Wouldn’t it be wonderful if we could all say that concerning 2021? If not, let’s ask the Lord to help us to make 2022 the year where we can say like Caleb “I wholly followed the Lord my God” (Joshua 14:8).

Your Christian Friend,

 Jim Hyland

Four Sacrifices

There are four sacrifices in the beginning of Leviticus that bring before us, in type, Christ in four aspects of His person and work.

1. The burnt offering: Christ in His devotedness to God His Father, even unto death. “Christ also hath loved us, and hath given Himself for us an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweetsmelling savor” (Ephesians 5:2).

2. The meat offering: Christ in the perfection of His sinless life of consecration to God. “Who did no sin, neither was guile found in His mouth” (1 Peter 2:22). “The Father hath not left Me alone; for I do always those things that please Him” (John 8:29).

3. The peace offering: Christ as the basis of communion and fellowship with God. “Truly our fellowship is with the Father, and with His Son Jesus Christ … . We have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanseth us from all sin” (1 John 1:3, 7).

4. The sin offering: Christ made sin for those who stood in need of it. “For He hath made Him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him” (2 Corinthians 5:21).

Their Judge

Many people at this time of year will celebrate the birth of their judge. They have rejected Him as their Savior, lived for self and sin, but will pause to sing a carol or stand before a nativity scene, and maybe even attend a service where the Scriptures are read concerning His birth. However, they then go on living their lives and forgetting that, “He that believeth on Him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil” (John 3:18-19).

I hope that none of my readers fall into this category. It will be an awful thing to stand before the Lord as judge and realize that you celebrated His birth but never accepted His offer of salvation. You will be amongst those of whom we read, “And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened…And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire” (Revelation 20:12, 15).

Room for Him

“And she brought forth her firstborn son, and wrapped Him in swaddling clothes, and laid Him in a manger; because there was no room for them in the inn” (Luke 2:7).

The inns of Bethlehem were full, no doubt due to the taxation decree that had gone out from the Emperor, Caesar Augustus. The fact that the infant Christ was born in a stable was a testimony to the poverty of Joseph and Mary, for then as now, inconveniences can always be eliminated by money. It was symbolic, however, of the outside place as regards the world and its glory which Christ was to have from the outset. At the end of His life and ministry they cried, “Away with Him, away with Him, crucify Him. Pilate saith unto them, Shall I crucify your King? The chief priests answered, We have no king but Caesar” (John 19:15).

Still today the Lord Jesus is “despised and rejected of men” (Isaiah 53:3). For the most part He is outside the thoughts, plans, and platforms of the general populous of this world. The question to ask ourselves today is, “Does He have room to reside and reign in our hearts and lives?”

The Race

“Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended: but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before” (Philippians 3:13).

Back in the late 1800’s, a man named John Nelson Darby was asked the following question:

“With what do you connect the ‘forgetting those things which are behind?’ ”

Here is his answer:

“I connect it with this: “Let thine eyes look right on, and let thine eyelids look straight before thee” (Proverbs 4:25). If I were running in a race, I should not stop to see how I was getting on, or somebody else would soon out-distance me. There will be time enough to reckon up victories when I have reached the goal.”

To dwell on past failures will discourage us, and to dwell on past victories will fill us with pride. Often in the Bible the believer is likened to an athlete with the goal and prize before them. Paul could add, “I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 3:14). The goal is Heaven, and the prize is Christ.

Monthly Scripture Reading
Judges 2

1 And an angel of the Lord came up from Gilgal to Bochim, and said, I made you to go up out of Egypt, and have brought you unto the land which I sware unto your fathers; and I said, I will never break my covenant with you.

2 And ye shall make no league with the inhabitants of this land; ye shall throw down their altars: but ye have not obeyed my voice: why have ye done this?

3 Wherefore I also said, I will not drive them out from before you; but they shall be as thorns in your sides, and their gods shall be a snare unto you.

4 And it came to pass, when the angel of the Lord spake these words unto all the children of Israel, that the people lifted up their voice, and wept.

5 And they called the name of that place Bochim: and they sacrificed there unto the Lord.

6 And when Joshua had let the people go, the children of Israel went every man unto his inheritance to possess the land.

7 And the people served the Lord all the days of Joshua, and all the days of the elders that outlived Joshua, who had seen all the great works of the Lord, that He did for Israel.