Hello Derek;
Hey brother, how would you minister and encourage this to a young man or woman believer?
God bless you, always.
Brother Bob, I respect you as my elder and think you probably could answer this ten times better than I, but I will try.
It is essential to come down to their level, be where they live, and enter into their struggles in the tremendous peer pressure they face. And gently lead them away from temptation by staying away from sin, and parting with anyone, or anything that pulls them away from the Cross, and away from their first Love in Christ. This is where discipleship, staying close by, and learning from other Believers that have grown, and matured in their walk with the Lord, can help so much. Lots of Bible studies, sometimes one-on-one, and letting them openly read the word of God out loud sends the devil running. Lots of prayer with them as well, teaching them how drastically important it is to know all the consequences and traps of sin and the enemy. But also, when mistakes come, never forget the mercy of the Lord is new each morning, and His sea of Forgetfulness is always deep enough for our sins to be placed in and never to be remembered again( until, of course, the Lord leaves His mercy seat, which I feel will be soon)
And in all those things, I could share many more, but I think these are 2 of the most important. Keeping a daily heartfelt attitude of REPENTANCE as King David's will keep a young believer's heart on the strait and narrow. And the number one failure of young believers is, that they are not led and taught the necessity of going on to receiving the BAPTISM OF THE HOLY GHOST! And that's why so many new believers, young and old, fall back into the world and sin, for they were not discipled and taught the need for the filling of the Spirit, which brings the holding
Power! This is the Gospel, as it says after the comforter has come, He will fill you with the Power from on High, and then, and only then, will you have the unstoppable strength and power over sin, as you follow the dove of God in your heart!
Brother, I'm sorry, I'm going long. But I also believe that young believers are not much taught the great need for complete REPENTANCE, which is far beyond saying the sinner's prayer. There has to be a complete dying out to sin, 100% restitution in making past sins right. Total separation from unbelief and Idolatry. Just like Abraham had to be removed entirely from his Idolatry in being in the Idol making he was raised in, then once he fully obeyed God
and left all the sin behind him, God came down and met him on the mountain. And I must say that True and Full repentance can hugely differ in so many people and can not take long for some , and for others, it seems to take years!
And to make this point plain, we see and hear from our Precious Brother Billy Graham, who won so many souls to Christ, yet said in his own words, I go to a city and win 3,000 to Christ, and when I return a year later, I can't find 30! And he said, Paul goes into the town and wins 30 for Christ; a year later when he returns, he has 3,000! Why is this?
It's not Billy Graham's fault; he tried to lead them to the Cross in total and complete Repentance. Still, as mature believers, it's our fault who never disciplined these little lambs and taught them on the paths of complete Repentance and into the filling of the Holy Spirit and Power.
In closing my so long response, I'm sorry; years ago, I used to travel to different churches and hold youth meetings, and in this one small church up in the hills of Prescott, Arizona, one night I performed a play with some other youth called MY PERSONAL CROSS. In this play, a young man gets saved, repents fully, receives Christ and His Spirit, and receives his cross (a total eight ft. 4x4 cross) that he starts to carry. As he goes
on in life, he is tempted in many ways to have his cross cut just a little to lighten his load. And I'm the first person being his uncle, to cut it down. I start up my loud chainsaw and start cutting his cross off about a foot, on all four ends.
You can imagine everyone's eye's never seeing a loud chainsaw inside a holy church, and loud and screaming, with chips going everywhere. Everyone is spellbound under the Holy Spirits' conviction as his cross being cut off, which he has cherished, has now been cut by the temptation of sin, but it is a little lighter. (I've got to make this short.) So he has more people cut his cross until it's a tiny 2-foot cross. Then he ends up dying in a car wreck and meets an Angel who tells him you're going to be crossing the large casem of death, and you'll need your cross to bridge the gap, and don't forget your cross. In the darkness, he runs out the back door, then comes into the front of the church, and stops at the great dark sheet of death, near the alter, and places his cross down, and it's too short, then starts screaming to the top of his voice, IT'S TO SHORT, NOOOOO.......Then he starts running back to everyone sitting in the church, crying, looking into their eyes; IT'S TO SHORT, IT'S TO SHORT!
As it goes total, he goes behind the curtain and lies in a bed, and then you hear an alarm clock going off, the curtain is rolled back, and there is his uncut 8-foot cross leaning up against his bed. He drops to his knees and starts crying and screaming while embracing his cross; as the song is played, I WILL CHERISH THE OLD RUGGED CROSS AND EXCHANGE IT ONE DAY FOR A CROWN. He then suddenly dies that night, and he carries his cross to the death casem again, crosses it with his full-length cross, and meets the Lord Jesus on the other side, who exchanges his cross for a crown! Oh Lord Jesus!!!!!!
At the end of this play, several came to the altar, but one 12-year-old girl, came forward and gave her life to Christ, Repented, and was filled with the Spirit. This play taught REPENTANCE, SALVATION, SIN, HELL, and HEAVEN.
About four years after I got sick, a brother called me from that church and said that that girl was still serving the Lord, which I believe is so today and he said she is the pillar of all the young people in her church. Thank you, Lord!
So, I think these five things are essential for young people's walk with Christ!
1) Lead them to a total Repentance and Water Baptism!
2) Teach them and lead them to receive the infilling of the Holy Spirit and Fire!
3) Get under Discipleship from those who are mature in Christ, and keep carrying you UNCUT CROSS!
4) Read your Bible, pray daily, and have Bible studies with other's/church!
5) Don't let the devil devalue you and tell you that you are unforgivable today!
AND KEEP YOUR HEART CLEAN AND HUMBLE THROUGH DAILY REPENTANCE BY CLINGING TO THE OLD RUGGED CROSS, AND NEVER LET IT GO UNTIL YOU'VE EXCHANGED IT FOR YOUR CROWN!
