Young People’s Blog

“There shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth, when ye shall see Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, and all the prophets, in the kingdom of God, and you yourselves thrust out” (Luke 13:28).

When the Lord Jesus was on earth, many of the Jews felt that because they were part of the nation of Israel, they would automatically be saved. But there is only one way to be saved, and when most of the Jews rejected the Lord Jesus, they rejected God’s way of salvation. The Lord Jesus warned them that in a coming day, they would be “thrust out,” when godly men like Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob would be in heaven.

This is true today as well. Many people in western countries (and in other countries as well) go to church and profess to be Christians, but have never truly accepted Christ as their Savior. They are trusting in their own good works, not realizing that those good works will never save them. It will be an awful thing for them to find themselves in hell, when others who believed on the Lord Jesus are in heaven. Are you truly saved?

“Then said one unto Him, Lord, are there few that be saved? And He said unto them, Strive to enter in at the strait gate” (Luke 13:23-24).

As human beings, it is easy for us to be asking questions about the salvation of others, without perhaps being sure of our own salvation. I knew a man (he is with the Lord now) who began to pray that his brother would be saved. But then the Lord spoke to him by His Spirit, and showed him clearly that he was not saved himself. He knew the gospel, and knew that he needed to be saved, but he had never really accepted Christ as his Savior. Shortly afterward he did accept Christ as his Savior, and then it was appropriate for him to pray for his brother.

Perhaps you have encountered unbelievers who wanted to ask all kinds of questions about people who have never heard the gospel, about the way some Christians do not live good lives, why God does not punish bad people right away, etc. But they do not want to talk about their own salvation.

It is so important to realize our own sinful condition, and to come to Christ ourselves. Only then can we really be concerned about others. It is not enough to know how to be saved; we must accept the Lord Jesus as our Savior.

“O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, which killest the prophets, and stonest them which are sent unto thee; how often would I have gathered thy children together, as a hen doth gather her brood under her wings, and ye would not!” (Luke 13:34).

The Lord Jesus had to pronounce judgment on the nation of Israel, for they rejected Him as the Son of God. When they rejected Him, there was no other way for them to be saved. However, the love of the Lord Jesus went out to them just the same, and He mourned over them.

When a mother hen has her small chicks around her, they run to her as soon as any danger approaches. Then she spreads her wings over them to protect them. The Lord Jesus wanted to do the same thing for the Jews. He loved them, and had come to save them. If they had been willing to come to Him, He would have saved them, and protected them from coming judgment. But even when they refused to come, His love still went out to them, and He felt their rejection very keenly.

Even though many in this world reject Him today, yet His love goes out to the whole world, and He is longing for more to come and be saved. He died on the cross so that all who come to Him can be saved.

“Peace I leave with you, My peace I give unto you…let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid” (John 14:27).

It is a wonderful thing to have peace in this world, for the world today is in a lot of turmoil. Here in this verse the Lord Jesus speaks about two kinds of peace. First of all, He leaves peace with us, and this is the peace we have about our sins. If we are truly saved, then we have “peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ” (Romans 5:1). We never need to be concerned about our sins again, for they are all under the shelter of the blood of Christ.

But there is another kind of peace, and the Lord Jesus calls it “My peace.” This is not peace about our sins, but rather the peace in which the Lord Jesus walked while He was here on earth. He accepted every problem from His Father, and prayed to His Father about all the difficulties in His pathway down here. Our lives in this world are often complicated too, but we can have the same peace that the Lord Jesus had, for He has given it to us. We do not need to be anxious or upset about things that happen to us. We can accept them from the Lord, and then take them to Him in prayer. He does not always take away the problem, but He gives us peace about it.

“I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by Me” (John 14:6).

The Lord Jesus had told His disciples that He had to go away from them, but He had also told them that they knew where He was going, and they knew the way to get there. Thomas was puzzled, for he said, “We don’t know where you are going, and how can we know the way”?

The Lord Jesus gave a wonderful reply, which is the verse we have today. HE was the way, the truth, and the life. When He went to the cross, He suffered and died for us, so that we could go to be with Him for all eternity. For this reason, He is the way, but He is also the truth. That means that He is the only way to be saved. Many people have their own ideas about how to be saved, but God says there is only one way—through the Lord Jesus Christ. No one can come to God the Father, except through the Lord Jesus.

Also He is the life. When we come to the Lord Jesus, He gives us a new life in Him—a life that is fit for heaven, the place where He was going. So He is the way, the truth, and the life. In Him we have everything we need for salvation.

“I will pray the Father, and He shall give you another Comforter, that He may abide with you for ever; even the Spirit of truth” (John 14:16-17).

Yesterday we mentioned that when the Lord Jesus went back to heaven, He would send the Holy Spirit down to this world, to indwell every true believer. This is a wonderful thing, for it had never been true before. The Holy Spirit had come upon believers for short periods of time in the Old Testament, but it had never indwelt them permanently before.

The KJV translation of the Bible uses the word “Comforter” to describe the work of the Holy Spirit, but this word does not give the complete thought. The word in Greek really means “someone who takes charge of and looks after all of your affairs.” This is an amazing thing, for we now have the Lord Jesus in heaven who looks after us, and the Holy Spirit down here to look after us. We are very well “looked after”!

“Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in Me” (John 14:1).

In our lives here in this world, we can find many things about which to be troubled. The disciples were troubled because the Lord Jesus had told them that He had to go away. He told them that He had to suffer, die, and then go away from them for a while. They would not see Him, for He would go back to heaven to be with His Father. But all this was necessary to settle the matter of sin, and to prepare a place for them in heaven.

Also, He reminds them that they believed in God, whom they could not see. However, they could see all the effects of His power, and feel the effect of His presence in their lives. It would be the same with the Lord Jesus. Even though they would not be able to see Him for a while, He would be up there in heaven, looking after them. Also He would send the Holy Spirit down to comfort them, and to guide them in this world.

The Lord Jesus is the same today for us. We cannot see Him now, but He is up there in heaven, looking after us in every way. There is no reason to be troubled!

“Whether therefore ye eat, or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God” (1 Corinthians 10:31).

This verse covers a lot of ground, whether things to do with serving the Lord, or things simply to do with everyday life. If I am living my life before the Lord, then everything I do can be done for His glory. We had this verse back in July, but now let us look at it in a slightly different way. What does it mean to eat and drink for the Lord’s glory?

It means that even routine things like eating and drinking can be done with the Lord before me, as the One whom I wish to please. For example, I can eat and drink far more than I need, just because I love food, but this is not to the glory of God. I can waste food, but this is not to the glory of God. I can eat things that I know are harmful to me, but this is not to the glory of God.

I can do my work in a sloppy way, but this is not to the glory of God. Everything in my life should be with the desire to be like Christ. This is quite a challenge, but if we ask the Lord for help, He is always there with us, and we can do everything for His glory, and in His strength.

“Wherefore let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall” (1 Corinthians 10:12).

The believers in the assembly in Corinth were generally rather proud, and had a lot of confidence in themselves. The Apostle Paul had to remind them that they needed to live their Christian lives in dependence on the Lord, and not to try and live in their own strength. Paul reminds them of some of the Israelites back in the time of Moses who were proud and self-confident, and who got into trouble as a result.

We need to remember the same thing in our own lives. You and I have perhaps known someone who was proud and overconfident, only to see them suddenly fail at something, and look rather foolish. We are to walk in dependence on the Lord and rely on His strength, which will never fail. Then He gets the glory and the praise, and not we ourselves.

“The Spirit of Christ…when it testified beforehand the sufferings of Christ, and the glory that should follow” (1 Peter 1:11).

We all like to consider the future glories of our Lord Jesus Christ, and what it will be like to spend eternity with Him. In that day, we will reign with Him over this earth for 1000 years. The Old Testament scriptures, inspired by the Spirit of God, prophesied all this long before the Lord Jesus came into this world.

The Old Testament scriptures also prophesied the sufferings of the Lord Jesus, but the Jews were so dazzled by the thought of a glorious coming kingdom that they failed to see that the sufferings had to come first. They did not realize that they could not inherit the kingdom in their sinful state; they had to be “redeemed with the precious blood of Christ.” When the Lord Jesus clearly showed them that He had to go to the cross and suffer, John records that “many of His disciples went back, and walked no more with Him” (John 6:66).

You and I face a similar challenge in our lives. As natural people, we do not like to follow a rejected Christ, yet that is what we are called to do in this world. Surely the day of glory is ahead for us, but for now, we are called to follow the One who is still despised and rejected in this world.