THE ISSUES OF THE YOUNG

 

Train up a child in the way he should go,

And when he is old he will not depart from it.

Proverbs 22:6

 

THE YOUNG NEED GODLY INSTRUCTION

 

Godly parents provide godly instruction

Deuteronomy 6:1-9

 

Lack of experience

 

Without this knowledge they are destroyed

Hosea 4:6 My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge

 

Or exposed to those without these things

1 Corinthians 15:33 Do not be deceived: "Evil company corrupts good habits."

 

WHEN THE YOUNG WALK IN THE WAYS OF THEIR HEART

THEY REAP THE WHIRLWIND

 

Ecclesiastes 11:9

Rejoice, O young man, in your youth,

And let your heart cheer you in the days of your youth;

Walk in the ways of your heart,

And in the sight of your eyes;

But know that for all these

God will bring you into judgment.

 

 

 

The destructiveness of lust

Proverbs 5:20-23

20 For why should you, my son, be enraptured by an immoral woman,

And be embraced in the arms of a seductress?

21 For the ways of man are before the eyes of the LORD,

And He ponders all his paths.

22 His own iniquities entrap the wicked man,

And he is caught in the cords of his sin.

23 He shall die for lack of instruction,

And in the greatness of his folly he shall go astray.

 

Baseless confidence

1 Corinthians 10:12 Therefore let him who thinks he stands take heed lest he fall.

Galatians 6:2-5 2 Bear one another's burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ. 3 For if anyone thinks himself to be something, when he is nothing, he deceives himself. 4 But let each one examine his own work, and then he will have rejoicing in himself alone, and not in another. 5 For each one shall bear his own load.

Natural mindedness

Galatians 6:6-8 6 Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, that he will also reap. 8 For he who sows to his flesh will of the flesh reap corruption, but he who sows to the Spirit will of the Spirit reap everlasting life.

1 Corinthians 2:14-16

14 But the natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; nor can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned. 15 But he who is spiritual judges all things, yet he himself is rightly judged by no one. 16 For "who has known the mind of the LORD that he may instruct Him?" But we have the mind of Christ.

REMOVING THE SORROW

Ecclesiastes 11:10 – 12:1

10 Therefore remove sorrow from your heart,

And put away evil from your flesh,

For childhood and youth are vanity.

12:1 Remember now your Creator in the days of your youth,

Before the difficult days come,

And the years draw near when you say,

"I have no pleasure in them":

THE TEST

 

Speech

Colossians 4:6 Let your speech always be with grace, seasoned with salt, that you may know how you ought to answer each one.

Personal conduct

Romans 12:1-3

1 I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service. 2 And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.

 

What are your responses to accountability?

 

Silence

Excuses

Blame-shifting (Alibis)

 

OR

 

Confession

Admission

Discussion



She rocks a child who is not there

 

As she rocks a child who is not there,

she can almost smell his little boy hair

she softly sings him to sleep,

she prays the Lord her soul would keep

As she rocks the child who is not there,

 

They lived fast and they lived wild

and it wasn’t long till she was with child

But they had a lot bills, no time to spare

and with kids you can’t get anywhere

The man had dead eyes, his hands were cold

and what they wanted, they were told

They set the date they set the time

and paid the man his thirty dimes

It hurt more than they said it would

she felt more regret than she thought she would

They left the clinic under a dark sky

her man didn’t understand when she began to cry

 

As she rocks the child who is not there,

she can almost smell his little boy hair

She softly sings him to sleep,

and she prays the Lord her soul would keep

As she rocks the child who is not there,

 

From her man she drifts away, a little more every day

They no longer talk, there’s not much to say

Sometimes she thinks she’ll just go away.

They still have bills and time to spare

But she doesn’t want to go anywhere

She just rocks a child who is not there,

she can almost smell his little boy hair

she softly sings him to sleep,

and she prays the Lord her soul would keep

       And if she dies before she wakes

she thanks Him and one request she makes

Since He sent His own precious Son

could she one day see her little one..

 

For now she rocks the child who is not there

She can almost smell his little boy hair …

 

Tom Russell & Debbie McCollum