Young People’s Blog

Holding the Rope

“Have faith in God” (Mark 11:22).

A botanist (scientist who specializes in the study of plants) was once standing on the edge of a precipice, and, looking down, he saw a very rare flower which he much wished to possess. However, it was beyond his reach. He went in search of a boy, and taking him to the edge of the precipice, he said, “If you allow me to tie this rope round your body, and put you down there to gather that flower for me, I will give you this piece of money.”

The boy hesitated a moment, and then said, “If you allow me to go home for father to hold the rope, I will go down.” On permission being granted, the boy quickly ran home, and soon returned with his father. Now, without the slightest fear, he went down, knowing that his father had a firm hold of the rope, and would never let him fall.

Can’t we, with the simple faith of this little boy, trust God our Father, knowing that if we trust ourselves to Him, He will never let us fall? He is worthy of our confidence, no matter how steep and dangerous the precipices of life’s circumstances may seem. As the inspired writer, Jude, confirms, He is “able to keep you from falling” (verse 24).

Dear Young Christian:

In 1964, an older brother in appealing to young people wrote the following. I will quote it just as it was given:

Young Christians: I beg of you to read your Bible. Make a friend of your Bible, love your Bible, reverence it deeply, look upon it as a precious legacy to be guarded with care. Let the infidel scoff and the worldling laugh. Readers and treasurers of God’s Holy Word, don’t blush when your flippant associates discover the well-worn Testament on your desk or in your pocket.

I am passing this on to my readers 57 years later as I believe its message is still relevant and vital. The writer of Psalm 119 said, “O how love I Thy law! it is my meditation all the day … . Great peace have they which love Thy law: and nothing shall offend them” (verses 97, 165). The Apostle Paul said to Timothy, “Be not thou therefore ashamed of the testimony of our Lord” (2 Timothy 1:8). Let’s take these words to heart as we head out this week.

Your Christian Friend,

 Jim Hyland

The Lord’s Death

“He took bread, and gave thanks, and brake it … Likewise also the cup” (Luke 22:19-20).

“For as often as ye eat this bread, and drink this cup, ye do shew the Lord’s death till He come” (1 Corinthians 11:26).

Our taking the bread (a symbol of the body of Christ) before the cup (a symbol of the blood of Christ) may be called reversing the natural order of the Old Testament sacrifices in which the blood was always dealt with first. This was because the shedding of the blood is what slew the victim.

However, in “the Lord’s death,” God’s Lamb, it was not so. He gave up his life voluntarily. He could say, “I lay down My life, that I might take it again. No man taketh it from Me, but I lay it down of Myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again” (John 10:17-18). After death, His blood was shed. “One of the soldiers with a spear pierced His side, and forthwith came there out blood and water” (John 19:34). The separation of the blood from the body was the proof of death. His death was miraculous and divine as was His person — God and man in one.

Unprepared

“Be ye therefore ready” (Luke 12:40).

Caesar Borgia (born c. 1475/76, probably Rome, Italy — died 1507, near Viana, Spain) was an Italian nobleman and politician, as well as a man of impassioned purpose. His ambition was to have wealth and power, and he achieved both. First, he became Archbishop of Valenza, then a cardinal, and afterwards Duke of Valentinois. But when death claimed him, he left his riches, position, and power, and took only his sins with him into eternity.

Realizing this, he groaned while dying: “In the course of my life, I have provided for everything except for death. Now I am dying though completely unprepared for it!”

The question may be asked, “Is Caesar Borgia the only one so foolish?” The answer is “No!” Multitudes of young and old alike are totally unprepared for eternity. They think only of the present, and provide for everything, except death, not considering the fact that they will spend eternity in hell. They fail to grasp the Lord’s question, “For what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? Or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?” (Mark 8:36-37).

No Change

“Meddle not with them that are given to change” (Proverbs 24:21).

I heard someone say that we have “A changing Christ for a changing world.” But is that really true? Is it really the issue or the need? I suggest that the world wants to change the standard to accommodate their sinful lifestyle and to resist what their conscience tells them is unquestionably wrong.

What is needed is not a change ahead but a change back to the unchanging Word of God and the unchanging person that it presents. He assures us, “I am the Lord, I change not” (Malachi 3:6), and “The Word of our God shall stand for ever” (Isaiah 40:8).

The only thing that is new is His mercies. “It is of the Lord’s mercies that we are not consumed, because His compassions fail not. They are new every morning: great is Thy faithfulness” (Lamentations 3:22-23). Let’s be thankful that He is untainted and unchanged by time or by the trends and downward course of an ever-changing world. He is still, and will always be, “Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and today, and for ever” (Hebrews 13:8). This truth and stability we can always count on and rejoice in!

Young People of Scripture
Rhoda

“And as Peter knocked at the door of the gate, a damsel [young girl] came to hearken, named Rhoda” (Acts 12:13).

We don’t know much about this young believer, but what we do know is very instructive. The earlier Christians were having prayer meetings because of their concern for Peter who was in prison. “Peter therefore was kept in prison: but prayer was made without ceasing of the church unto God for him.” (Acts 12:5).

One night, Peter is miraculously released, and arrived at the house of Mary the mother of John Mark. The Lord ordered it so that Rhoda was the one who went to the door as Peter knocked and saw firsthand the power of God to answer assembly prayer. Thus, she learned that night the importance of collective prayer, and the importance of sisters in Christ being there to join in this powerful exercise.

I suspect that Rhoda rarely missed a prayer meeting after that. She had learned in a very real way the truth of Matthew 18:19. “That if two of you shall agree on earth as touching any thing that they shall ask, it shall be done for them of My Father which is in Heaven.” Let’s not forget the importance of the prayer meeting! It is the way of blessing and power.

The Love of God — Part 2

“Keep yourselves in the love of God” (Jude verse 21).

As we said yesterday, keeping yourself in the enjoyment of God’s love will have an impact on your life in several ways. These effects may even take place unconsciously. Here are some more of those effects.

5. It will keep us from sin.

“For the love of Christ constraineth us” (2 Corinthians 5:14)

6. It will cause us to walk in separation from this world.

“For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also” (Matthew 6:21).

7. It will cause us to be thankful and full of praise.

“My heart is fixed, O God, my heart is fixed: I will sing and give praise” (Psalm 57:7).

8. It increases our appreciation of Himself.

“And to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge, that ye might be filled with all the fulness of God” (Ephesians 3:19).

9. It will make us look and long for the Lord’s return.

“Looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life” (Jude 21).

The Love of God — Part 1

“Keep yourselves in the love of God” (Jude verse 21).

Keeping yourself in the enjoyment of God’s love will have an impact on your life in several ways. The following are just a few of those ways:

1. It will increase your love for the Lord.

“We love Him, because He first loved us” (1 John 4:19).

2. It will cause us to obey His Word and will.

“We love God, and keep His commandments” (1 John 5:2).

“If ye love me, keep My commandments … . If a man love Me, he will keep My words” (John 14:15, 23).

3. It will increase your love for the lost and interest in the gospel. It will give you that same love and desire that He has for their salvation and blessing.

“The love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us” (Romans 5:5).

4. It will increase your love for your fellow-believer, and your desire to serve them.

“By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God” (1 John 5:2).

Dear Young Christian:

In a book of short sayings, I came across this saying I thought would be good to pass along this week:

“Feed on the Word,

not the World.”

It is just one letter difference. The letter “l”. But what a difference it can make in our spiritual diet and spiritual growth! Ask yourself, “What did I feed on this past weekend, and what will I feed on this week?”

Centuries ago Job wrote, “I have esteemed the words of His mouth more than my necessary food” (Job 23:12). Jeremiah said, “Thy words were found, and I did eat them; and Thy Word was unto me the joy and rejoicing of mine heart” (Jeremiah 15:16). The Lord Himself said, “He that eateth Me, even he shall live by Me” (John 6:57).

So, it is necessary that we feed on Christ by reading the Word, and through meditation, digesting it for the good and vitality of our souls.

Your Christian Friend,

Jim Hyland

Resurrection

“So they ran both together: and the other disciple did outrun Peter, and came first to the sepulchre. And he stooping down, and looking in, saw the linen clothes lying; yet went he not in. Then cometh Simon Peter following him, and went into the sepulchre, and seeth the linen clothes lie, And the napkin, that was about His head, not lying with the linen clothes, but wrapped together in a place by itself” (John 20:4-7).

At the tomb early on the resurrection morning, these two disciples (Peter and John) take account of the linen clothes and the napkin “wrapped together in a place by itself,” details only given in John’s Gospel. It was evident that the body had not been taken away from the tomb, for why, in that case, should the grave clothes be left behind? Yet stronger is the witness to the mighty power of this glorious Person Who, having risen from the dead, can lay aside the grave clothes in a calm and orderly fashion.

“Resurrection” is a wonderful reality. Let’s rejoice today with the realization that “He is not here: for He is risen, as He said. Come, see the place where the Lord lay” (Matthew 28:6). We have an empty tomb and a living Savior!