Exhortations and Warnings for Youth (Part 5)

XIV. Young people! This culture is waging a war for the control of your minds. A. This war is being prosecuted by many forces: politics, education, entertainment, technology, mass media, ignorant relatives and friends, false religion, etc. which advance false messages that oppose God, Jesus Christ, the Bible, decency and common sense. B. Consider some of the false messages that are out there: 1. There is no God and therefore no absolute standard of good, nor accountability to God. 2. There was no divine Creation; all things evolved by blind chance without purpose. 3. If there is a God, he is whatever you think he is. 4. If there is a God, he is pleased with whatever you believe or do and by any manner of service to himself. 5. The Bible is mostly myth and legend, not factual, and the source of all hatred. 6. Jesus Christ, if He even existed, was just a man who is still dead. 7. Debt is a good thing. Never save to purchase what you could borrow and get now. 8. Money and power are the most important things in life. 9. Homosexuality is good and normal. 10. Fornication (pre-marital sex in any form) is good and natural. Everyone does it. 11. Pornography is harmless. 12. Friends pressuring you into drunkenness, illegal drugs, theft, foul language, etc. 13. Friends corrupting good manners such as respecting parents, adults and authority in general. 14. Friends telling you your parents' church is a cult and you should get away from it. 15. Girls are defined by their sexiness. Sexually alluring speech and apparel are the way to be superior to other girls, get attention and snag a guy. 16. Girls should think that a professional career is better than being a wife and mother. 17. Guys should think of girls as nothing more than sex objects. 18. Manliness is defined by drunkenness, violence and sexual conquests. 19. Marriage is anything: man/woman, man/man, woman/woman, man/women. 20. Marriage is nothing. It's fine to shack up with someone without commitment. 21. Marriage is easily dissolved. Divorce is an easy way out of your commitment. 22. This life is all there is so live it up. YOLO! C. The above are the ways of the carnal mind, the ways of death, not life and peace. ROM 8:6, 13. 1. They are the ways of self-destruction. You will reap what you sow. GAL 6:7-8. 2. They are the ways of destroying others. If you want to ruin others' lives as well as your own, then embrace these ways. 3. They are ungodliness that shall not stand in the day of judgment. JUDE 1:14-15. D. The counter to this cultural battle for your minds is the gospel. 2CO 10:4-5. 1. The gospel has power to save them that govern their minds by it. 1CO 15:1-2; 1TI 4:16. 2. You CAN be saved from this untoward (unrestrained, unruly, perverse) generation. ACT 2:40. 3. But again I ask, “Do you really even want to be saved from it, from its vices, its principles, its fate?” Exhortations and Warnings for Youth 12-29-13 Page 11 E. This war for the mind underscores the need for discretion/discernment when listening to teachers, other adults, relatives, friends, etc. PRO 2:10-22. 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. The Bible is our standard by which everyone else's ideas are measured and, if necessary, condemned as invalid. PSA 119:128; MAT 4:4. It is our flashlight in the dark to save us from stumbling. PRO 6:20-23; PSA 119:105. We must compare whatever message others are giving us with what the Bible says to see if that message agrees with God. If it doesn't, they are wrong. ISA 8:20. If someone is telling you something that is different than what the Bible says is right, you know it's wrong and should be avoided. PRO 19:27; 14:7. If it is an adult that teaches you something that is wrong, be respectful towards them in your disagreement. XV. A big concern a large role in the shaping of their mind and values. A. Discretion is needed in social relationships because we ARE influenced by the company for youth is peer pressure. The influences of those with whom youth associate play we keep. DEU 20:8; PSA 106:34-35; PRO 13:20; 1CO 15:33. 1. Discretion is needed in the selection of friends. Parents will have to be pro-active in this area, encouraging positive friendships and discouraging negative ones. 2. Discretion is needed in one's conduct towards friends. Young people: you have been taught the fear of God and the way of righteousness---don't be a negative influence in the lives of your companions. 3. We will be influenced for good or evil by others outside of ourselves. Therefore follow that which is good. 3JO 1:11 c/w 2PE 2:2. 4. Because of this susceptibility to influence, we are told to avoid bad company. PRO 9:6; 22:24-25; 23:20; 24:1; PSA 1:1. 5. Companions who plant negative thoughts in your hearts about godly people should be avoided. Beware of letting your minds be adversely affected by those who despise good people. ACT 14:2; 2TI 3:3. 6. Running with the wrong crowd can have deadly consequences. 2KI 2:23-24. 7. Young people! The world around you is sufficient danger for you to deal with. a. Don't add to that by making friends with worldly people. b. And if you are yourself becoming too worldly, don't corrupt others with your worldliness---especially younger children. You don't need to be a threat to a younger child's well-being and you don't want a curse on yourself! LUK 17:1-2. B. Young people! You will experience negative peer pressure from your companions, especially those who lack good principles. 1. You will likely be pressured into sinful things like fornication, theft, drunkenness, drugs, filthy language, disobedience to parents, disregard of lawful authority, etc. 2. You will likely hear things like, “Come on, everybody does this.” 3. Remember what God says, “Thou shalt not follow a multitude to do evil” (EXO 23:2). 4. Remember that following the crowd was what nailed Jesus Christ to the cross. MAT 27:22-23. 5. If sinners entice you (stir you up, lure you by appeals to your lusts), don't go along with them. PRO 1:10. 6. Stand firm on good principles like Joshua. JOS 24:15. Exhortations and Warnings for Youth 12-29-13 Page 12 C. Friends may pressure you to not believe in God or to believe in a false god. 1. They may make fun of you for believing in God and Christ. If so, you are blessed. MAT 5:10-12. 2. There is only one God (ISA 44:6), the God of the Bible. 3. He is a Trinity: one God in three Persons. 1JO 5:7. 4. Jesus Christ is God (JOH 1:14; 1TI 3:16) and the ONLY way of salvation. JOH 14:6; ACT 4:12. 5. The most important thing in your life is to love and believe in God with all of your being. MAT 22:37-38. 6. Don't give heed to someone who tells you to otherwise. PRO 19:27.