MESSAGE 7
"Let no man despise thy youth; but be thou" WHAT GOD PURPOSED YOU TO BE. -- (PART 3)
Nehemiah 8:4 "made for the purpose"
2 Peter 2:12 "made to be taken and destroyed"
My wife had a cute little white and brown cocka-poo named "Little Bits". One day "Little Bits" ran across the street into a neighbor's yard where her little dog "Bimbo" was. Then, from down the street a great big Siberian dog came bounding over to where the two little dogs were....He took a big bite around the top of "Little Bits' " back, picked him up and shook him like a rag doll in the air. He did that to "Little Bits" maybe twice before he quit and made hamburger out of his sides. We rushed the little cocka-poo to the vet, but he died about 7 hours later and we buried him in the garden. I felt like that brute Siberian dog deserved to be "taken and destroyed," for he seemed to have the killer instinct.
The apostle Peter referred to certain self-willed individuals who despised government and were not afraid to speak evil of dignities thus: "But these, as natural brute beasts, made to be taken and destroyed, speak evil of things that they understand not.." Young person, we will be either made according to God's purpose and become a harmless sheep or gentle shepherd, or we will be made according to satan's perversion and become a grievous wolf, a brute beast, that enters in among the flock to destroy it. Thus, we will be either "made for the purpose" of God, or we will be "made to be taken and destroyed"! Don't let the devil make you after his image, fit for nothing but destruction. Be what God purposed you to be:
In the [CHOICE] of your mind: "Should it be according to thy mind? He will recompense it, whether thou refuse, or whether thou choose.." Job 34:33 Yes, young person, it should be according to your mind, because God has created you with both the ability to choose and the moral freedom to make up your own mind what you will be spiritually. You can, you may, you must choose for yourself. God will not decide for you, nor will He allow anyone else to make your decision. And, "He will recompense it" whatever you decide to be. If you decide to be made according to His purpose, He will honor and reward that choice both now and forever, or if you refuse that and choose to be made for destruction, He will permit you to do so and reward you with eternal wrath. Its up to you.
In the [CHILDHOOD] or youth of your life: "Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it." Prov. 22:6 A little boy ran up to the depot to catch a train, but got there too late and the train was already pulling out. A man who was watching said: "You didn't run fast enough, did you?" The boy replied: "Yes I did. I ran as hard and as fast as I could. I just didn't start soon enough!" And that's the problem lots of times spiritually. People just don't start seeking and serving the Lord soon enough, and they end up missing it later on. After it is too late, they make a mad dash to get on board the salvation train but discover that it has already pulled out of the station as far as they are concerned. "In the eighth year of his reign, while he was yet young," Josiah "began to seek after the God of David his father." 2 Chr.34:3 Seek him now children, young people, while there is time to catch the train spiritually.
In the [CHASTENINGS] of your Father in heaven: "What son is he whom the Father chasteneth not?" Heb. 12:7 The son whom the Father does not chasten is not a son of God, for the Lord "scourgeth every son whom He receiveth." 12:6 Through Jeremiah the Lord asked: "How shall I put thee among the children?" And then He answers that question at the end of the verse: "Thou shalt call me, My Father, and shalt not turn away from Me." Jere. 3:19 Many are content to call God their Father. Few consent to His chastenings and turn away from any preaching He sends their way through faithful servants who rebuke their sin. But God puts us among His children by rebuking and scourging us unto repentance from all sin, and if we turn away from that chastening we make ourselves spiritual bastards -- (false children) -- and not true sons of God.
One day when the saintly Fletcher was a boy, he ran away from his father instead of taking the whipping that he knew he had coming. As he was doing so, suddenly it came to him: "Do I run away from my father? Perhaps I shall live to have a son that shall run away from me!" There's a watch ad that said: "It can take a licking and keep on ticking!" Children, take your licking from the Lord whenever you have it coming. He'll put you among His true children and you can keep on ticking down the road toward heaven.
In the [CHANGING] of your heart attitude: A godly old farmer and his wife had a conference with their college-age son, and it was decided that they would sacrifice and send the boy to college quite some distance away. And, after the son had been away to school for a considerable length of time, the old father told his wife that he couldn't stand it any longer and decided to go see the boy at the college. After their sacrificing to send him to school, they didn't have enough money for train fare, so the old father hitched up their horse to a wagon, a rather comical sight in the eyes of the city folk, and made his way across the miles to the college. It took
him days and days, but finally he arrived on campus. 3 boys were walking toward him and laughed as they beheld the old man with the horse and wagon. The old father recognized one of them as his son and ran up to him and greeted him. Pretending that he didn't even recognize him, the heartless son who had become ashamed of his humble father, said: "You are not my father!" Without a word, the heart-broken old man turned and left, got in his wagon, rode back across the miles, went into the old farmhouse, sat down in the old chair, and his head slumped forward on his breast. He was dead.
Children, that's just the way the world has treated God the Father. He came to us in the Person of Jesus, but was disowned and crucified. Let us own Him as our Wonderful Heavenly Father though the world mocks Him. Change your attitude toward Him, if you haven't already. Own Him before a proud world, and always express and show Him your love and appreciation for what He is and for all that He is doing for you.
In the [CHAIN-REACTION] of your example: "Let no man despise thy youth; but be thou an example of the believers.." God wants you to pull people up toward heaven by your example "in word, in conversation, in charity, in spirit, in faith, in purity." I Tim. 4:12 Don't pull people down with your example:
Two boys were climbing on some rafters far above what may have been a paved or concrete surface in an old warehouse or some such building. They slipped, but one of the boys managed to get a hand-hold on a rafter. The other boy was hanging on to his legs. It would mean death if they fell, but with the weight of the other boy hanging on to his legs, the boy holding on to the rafter felt that he couldn't thus hold on much longer. Realizing that if he held on to the legs of the boy above him that they would both soon fall, the lower lad made a noble decision. He let loose, and fell to his death rather than pull the other boy down with him, and as a result the top boy was saved. Sinners, however, like Eve, generally pull some else down with them. Young people, if you pull other people, do your best to pull them up, not down.
This for the parents in closing...A minister and his wife and son were crossing a stream with a horse and wagon. They were swept into the water. The minister went for help while the lad and his mother held on to a log or something in the water. Weakening in the cold water, the mother was about to let go, but was quickened with the determination to hold on after the boy said: "Mother, If you let go, I'll let go!" By the chain-reaction of your influence, help others be saved!
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