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YOUNG MEN

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The Seventh-day Adventist Publishing Association · Battle Creek, Mich. · Aug 4, 1868

FromReview and Herald, Vol. 32, No. 7.

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YOUNG MEN

By H. L. H.

“I HAVE written unto you, young men, because ye are strong, and the word of God abideth in you, and ye have overcome the wicked one.” 1 John i, 14.

THE CHARACTER OF CHRISTIAN YOUNG MEN.

1. They were strong,—the glory of young men is their strength. Prov. xx, 29.
2. The word of God abode in them, and this is always a source of strength.
3. They had overcome the Wicked One,—this was a manifest proof of their strength.

STRENGTH IS MANIFOLD.

1. Physical. 2. Intellectual. 3. Moral. 4. Spiritual.

I. Young men need strength of all kinds.

1. They are workers, with much to do. 2 Cor. vi, 1.
2. They are sowers. Matt. xiii, 3; Ps. cxxvi, 5.
3. They are reapers. Matt. ix, 37, 38; John iv, 35, 38.
4. Workers in the vineyard. Matt. xx, 1–7; xxi, 28.
5. They are soldiers. 2 Tim. ii, 3; Eph. vi, 10–17.
6. They are beginning their work. 1 Kings xx, 2.

THEY WILL THEREFORE HAVE

1. Toils to endure. 2 Tim. ii, 3, 10; iv, 5.
2. Battles to fight. 1 Tim. i, 18.
4. Picket-duty and watching to perform. 2 Tim. iv, 4; 1 Cor. xvi, 13; 1 Pet. iv, 7.
5. Crosses and burdens to bear. Matt. xvi, 24; Gal. vi, 2, 5.
6. Lies and reproaches to live down. Matt. v, 11.
7. Temptations to resist. Jas. i, 14; 1 Cor. 10, 13.
8. Bad examples to overcome. Ex. xxiii, 2.
9. Satan to vanquish. Eph. iv, 27; vi, 12.
What can a weak man, a feeble man, do in such positions as these? Of all men in the world, young Christians need STRENGTH;—not puff, and bloat, and brag, but downright, quiet, reserved power; not only hammer strength for striking, but anvil strength to bear and never flinch.

II. How may young men be strong?

1. God gives strength. Ps. lxxxvi, 16; Isa. xl, 29.
2. We are born of the flesh with physical strength.
3. We must be born again to have spiritual strength. Rom. v, 6.
4. Hence, strength is as natural as life.
5. All strength may be improved or impaired.

STRENGTH MAY BE IMPAIRED AND RUINED

1. By idleness.
2. By gluttony.
3. By licentiousness. Prov. xxxi, 3.
4. By excessive effort. Eccl. vii, 16, 17.
5. By irregular and fitful courses of life.
6. By doing violence to our natures.

MORAL, MENTAL, AND SPIRITUAL STRENGTH ARE IMPAIRED BY

1. Falsehood. 2. Hypocrisy. 3. Covetousness. 4. Craft, low cunning, deceit. 5. Unfaithfulness to convictions, participating in sin, laughing at wickedness, following the multitude, etc.

STRENGTH IS GAINED AND RETAINED

1. By direct gift from God. Isa. xl, 29.
2. By the indwelling of his word. 1 Pet. ii, 2.
3. By exercise unto godliness. 1 Tim. iv, 7.
4. By patient endurance of trials. 1 Pet. v, 10.
5. By overcoming obstacles. Acts ix, 22.
6. By knowing our own weakness. 2 Cor. xii, 9.
7. By clinging wholly to Christ. 2 Tim. iv, 17; Eph. vi, 10.
8. By looking to things unseen. 2 Cor. iv, 16–18.
9. By being filled with the Holy Spirit. Eph. iii, 16; Col. i, 11.

III. Young men, if strong, can overcome

1. The Wicked One, whether in the guise of a lion or a serpent. Jas. iv, 7; 1 Pet. v, 8, 9.
2. The world's frowns or flatteries. 1 John iv, 4.
3. Self and sin. Prov. xvi, 32; 1 Cor. ix, 27.
Then they cannot be frightened, wheedled, flattered, or coaxed. They are strong; God is with them.
Let the young men, then, who are strong, give heed to the apostle's instruction: “Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world. And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof; but he that doeth the will of God abideth forever.”—H. L. H., in Christian.