TWELVE HELPS FOR YOUNG CHRISTIANS

This booklet is for those who have believed on the Lord Jesus Christ as personal Saviour, and are thus Christians. We would encourage you to look up all the Scripture references given.

FIRST
Renounce, once and for all, any thought that your acceptance before God depends on anything you do, or can do, or anything you are or can be. Christ, and not your condition, or your conduct, is the basis of your acceptance. God accepts Christ for you, and accepts you in Christ.

Read Romans 4:24,25; 5:1,2; 7:24,25; 8:14; Colossians 1:12-18; Ephesians 1:3-9.
"He hath chosen us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love . .. wherein He hath made us accepted in the Beloved.”

You're not worthy, oh, no! Christ alone
Is righteous and true in God' s sight;
But you are in Him who for sin did atone,
In whom is found all God' s delight.

SECOND
Remember that you are now a Christian Christ's one, and should seek to adorn "that beautiful Name by which you are called" (Acts 11:26; James 2;7). What is a Christian? Someone has said, “A Christian is CHRIST, Christ in full, and IAN, I Am Nothing, in initials." Look to God for grace to count yourself to be nothing, and to let Christ be everything. A Christian is not of the world. Therefore, one full of Christ will be set apart {sanctified) unto God by His Word, not unequally yoked together with unbelievers, and unspotted from the world. His fellowship and associations will be with other Christians.

Read Ephesians 3:14-21; John 17:11 17; 2 Corinthians 6:14-18; James 1:27; 1 John 2:15-17; Psalm 119:63; Hebrews 10:25; 2 Timothy 2: 19-22.

"That Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith; . that ye might be filled with all the fullness of God."

Oh, to be emptier, lowlier,
Small, unnoticed, and unknown;
And to God, a vessel holier,
Filled with Christ, and Christ alone!

THIRD
Be careful to keep a “good conscience," a pure and sensitive conscience instructed by Scripture, and not the standards and ways of men. Let your conscience be like a finely polished mirror that may be dimmed by the slightest breath of the tempter. If you sin, confess it at once, not as a sinner to God, but as a child to the Father.

Read Acts 24: 16; Hebrews 13: 18; 1 Timothy 1:5,6; I John 1:9,10; 2:1,2.

“Herein I exercise myself to have always a conscience void of offence toward God, and toward men."

FOURTH
Be as lenient to the faults of others as you are hard on your own. Remember those three gracious F's: Forbear - Forgive - Forget. If you detect the smallest bit of malice in your heart toward another, do not rest while it is there. Happy fellowship with the Lord will be hindered until it is gone.

Read Romans 12:9-21; Ephesians 4:18,31,32; Philippians 2:1-16; Colossians 3:12-17.
"Be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ's sake hath
forgiven you."

FIFTH
Keep a large heart as you walk the narrow way: By a large heart I mean a heart that takes in “all saints." The path of faithfulness amid the ruins becomes increasingly narrow and exclusive, but a heart filled with the love of Christ expands, and becomes increasingly large and inclusive.

The term “all saints" is found in the following texts: Romans 16:15; 2 Corinthians 1:1; 13:13; Ephesians 1:15; 3:18; 6:18; Philippians 1: 1; 4:21; Colossians 1:4; 1Thessalonians 3: 13; Philemon 5; Hebrews 13:24; and Revelation 8:3.

Have you had a kindness shown?
Pass it on.
'Twas not given for thee alone;
Pass it on.
Let it travel down the years,
Let it wipe another's tears,
Till in heaven the deed appears,
Pass it on[

SIXTH
In any difficulty let the Lord be your first resource. You have no wiser, kinder nor stronger Friend. Whatever your care be it in the home, school, business, the assembly. the world. or the tiny circle of your own soul go to Him alone about it. He delights to enter into all of our concerns. and the simpler our faith the better it pleases Him.

Read Philippians 4:49; 1 Peter 5:5-10.
"Be careful [anxious] for nothing: but In everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let
your requests be made known unto God."

No human voice may cheer thee.
No earthly listener hear thee,
But, oh, one Friend is near thee,
The kindest and the best;
Whose smile can banish sadness,
Whose presence falls with gladness,
The solitary breast.

SEVENTH
Do not be content with occasional praying, but grow in secret, continual prayer. It is a fact that the more you pray, the more you want to pray; and the less you pray, the less you want to pray. Depend upon it, when you feel least inclined for prayer, then you are most in need of it. Turn everything into prayer, and soon prayer will become a blessed state of life, as well as an act.

Read Matthew 6:6; 26:36-46; Hebrews 5:7-9; I Thessalonians 5:17,18. Luke presents Christ seven times in prayer: 3:21; 5:16; 6:12; 9:18,28; 11:1: 22:41-45. "Watch and pray, that ye enter not into temptation; the spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak."
'The end of all things is at hand: be ye therefore sober, and watch unto prayer" (1 Peter 4:7).

EIGHTH
Never refuse any teaching because it is new to you; but never accept anything until you see it for yourself in the Word of God! Inability to receive is not the same as rejection. Do not judge the doctrine of a message by the man who delivers it, nor gauge the truth of an article by the name of the author. Be sure and slow in acquiring truth. All that we receive from God is taught to us by Him in this way. Though you may get truth through a human channel, get it from God. Learn at the Master's feet, and then you will have no need to unlearn.

Read John 16:12-16; 1 Thessalonians 5:10-22; 2 Peter 3:1,2,17,18; I Corinthians 2:9-16; Isaiah 28:10.

"Pray without ceasing. In everything give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning
you. Quench not the Spirit Despise not prophesying. Prove all things; hold fast that which is good."

Make sure of Truth,
And Truth will make you sure:
It will not shift, nor fade, nor die,
But like the heavens endure.

NINTH
In connection with private Scripture study, there are five important things

1. Reading, 1 Timothy 4:13; Isaiah 34:16.
2. Searching, (daily) Acts 17:11; 2 Timothy 2:15.
3. Finding, Psalm 119:162; Jeremiah 15:16.
4. Meditating, 1 Timothy 4:15; Joshua 1:8.
5. Practicing, James 1:22-27; Philippians 2: 12-16; Psalm 119:9-11.

In Reading you skim the surface, locating a place to search further. In Searching you let down your line into its depths. In Finding you bring up something which is exciting and satisfying. In Meditating you feed upon and enjoy what you have. In Practicing you show it in your life before others.

"As newborn babes, desire the sincere milk of the Word, that ye may grow thereby 1 Peter 2:2).

TENTH
Beware of evil speaking, in all its many and insidious forms. Wisely, kindly, and alone, tell your brother or sister the fault, and speak to God about it, but do not ever whisper it to another. Evil speaking is a most prolific cause of sorrow, and always betrays a soul out of communion, and always grates upon a soul in corruption. "If we come forth from the closet of communion, the atmosphere of evil speaking will be to us as the polluted air of some great city to one that has been breathing the pure air of a mountain top, or the fresh breezes of the seashore.”

Read Ephesians 4:25-31; James 1:26; 3:118; 4:11,12.
"Let all bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and clamor. and evil speaking, be put away from you, with all malice."

ELEVENTH
Keep a warm gospel-heart. Christian experience, according to Philippians, is full of the gospel. Paul was as heartily into gospel work at the close of his Christian life as he was at the beginning. Compare Acts 9 with 2 Timothy. Never deceive yourself by thinking that because you are progressing in higher lines of truth, therefore your interest in gospel work must decline. The joy of Father, Son and Spirit in Luke 15 is essentially a gospel joy. Think on these words given in that chapter, “Joy shall be in heaven over one sinner that repenteth."

Read Luke 15; Philippians 1:12-21, 27; I Corinthians 1:23,24; 15:14; Colossians 4:26; 2 Timothy 4: 15.

"I am set for the defense of the gospel ...with one mind striving together for the faith of the Gospel" Philippians 1:7, 17,27).

Lord, lay some soul upon my heart,
And love that soul through me,
That I may nobly do my part
To bring that soul to Thee.
O Saviour, heed my fervent cry,
I long Thy Name to glorify
In bringing souls to Thee

TWELFTH
Finally, never take your Christianity from Christians, because you may either be disappointed or misled. If you want perfect Christianity, get your eye on God's perfect Christ, He who said, "Without Me ye can do nothing (John 15:5}. Tell Him of this, and seek grace to abide in Him so that you will faithfully follow in His steps and walk as He walked (1 Peter 2:21-25). Avoid legalism and false piety, on the one hand, and worldly conformity on the other. See Colossians 2:20-23 for the one, and Romans 12:1,2 for the other.

View all down here in the perspective of Christ crucified, risen and ascended, and live in sweet fellowship with Him where He now is. Let Him daily bring you, in spirit, into His banqueting house, there to feast and to commune under the shadow of His love. Thus others will "take knowledge of you, that you have been with Jesus" (Acts 4: 13). This, combined with gentleness of spirit and all the outward activities inward devotedness, will plainly mark you out as His. Let us together breathe this prayer:

Lord, may our walk and service be
An image bright of things above;
A mirror to show the unity
of Father, Son and Spirit' s love;
A living picture to display
The love that we can ne'er repay!

“Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye steadfast, unmovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labor is not in vain in the Lord"
(1 Corinthians 15:58).

Published by Moments with the Word

 Harold Smith
 

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