Billy Grahams Message. Topic:- Retreat! Stand! Advance! Episode 3. Continuation... Strife> This is the next thing from which Paul urges young Timothy to flee. Do you get angry easily? Are you impatient? Are you irritable? Do little things vex and annoy? Are there uprisings within? Do you lose your temper? Does wrath hold you at times in its grip? All of these things engender strife. God calls it sin! Many Christian homes where I am entertained are filled with strife. The father and the mother are continually bickering and arguing. The children, instead of being well disciplined, argue with their parents. The sweet aroma of Christian love is weakened. God says that such strife is sin. Let us confess and forsake it. Envy This is the green-eyed monster that has wrecked so many young Christians. It creeps in unexpectedly and slays us before we know it. God says (Proverbs 6:34), For jealousy is the rage of a man: therefore he will not spare in the day of vengeance. Some young people are jealous because others are more handsome and more beautiful than they; jealous because others can play the piano and they cannot; jealous because the pastor shakes hands more cordially with others than with them. These things can ruin your Christian experience and keep you in the valley of gloomy defeat. But thou, O man of God, flee these things. Avoid jealousy. Railing Railing simply means old-fashioned gossiping, talking about your neighbors without foundation for what you have to say. It is sin. Scripture says, Be swift to hear, slow to speak (James 1:19); The tongue is a fire, a world of iniquity . . . and it is set on fire of hell (James 3:6). Your tongue is one of the smallest members of your body, yet it is more powerful and deadly than an atomic bomb. Let us pray more for our friends — and talk less! Everywhere I go someone wants to take me aside and tell me an evil story about some Christian worker. I hate it! I dont want to hear it! Ninety percent of the stories that go around about men of God are untrue. Let us confess our sin. Let us confess these filthy communications. They grieve the Holy Spirit. Evil Surmising The searchlight of the Holy Spirit goes deeper than the tongue. It exposes even the thinking of our minds and hearts! Paul says, Timothy, avoid thinking evil about others! Think the best of everyone! If you follow this rule in your Christian experience you will find your life cleaner, happier and more vibrant. Gossiping and evil surmising can become habits that stunt our Christian growth and development. The Love of Money Paul mentions in the tenth verse of the sixth chapter of First Timothy the love of money. Many young Christians have been caught in this subtle trap of Satan. You say, But I have no money to love. I have talked with many people who did not make five dollars a week, but the love of money was keeping them from living victorious lives in Christ. Christ demands the prominent place! He demands leadership! Striving after money and this worlds goods is called sin! A young fellow came to me one day in Belfast, Ireland, and he said he was living a defeated life. I tried to find the cause and the secret of his defeat. He read the Word; he prayed; he seemed to be living a good, clean honest life, but there was something wrong somewhere. Finally I asked him, Do you give a portion of your income to the Lords work? He hung his head and shamefully said, Not very much. I said, That is it! There is your trouble! You have been robbing God. Young people, learn this: you cannot rob God and expect to grow and have power in your life. God says, Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be meat in mine house, and prove me now herewith, saith the Lord of hosts, if I will not open you the windows of heaven, and pour out a blessing, that there shall not be room enough to receive it (Malachi 3:10). Has this been your trouble? Youthful Lusts Writing to Timothy on another occasion, Paul warns him to flee something else: Flee also youthful lusts (2 Timothy 2:22). Young men and women, lust is a deadly thing. Every outward immoral sin begins with a thought. Guard your thoughts. Keep them clean. Keep them pure. Purpose in your heart that you will not defile yourself. Dont let your eyes look upon that which grieves the Holy Spirit. Dr. V.R. Edman, president of Wheaton College, said something in chapel one day which I shall never forget: The first look is not sin. It is the second look! You may be unable to help the first look, but watch and guard that second look. Flee youthful lusts. Brethren, I hope u are getting sth from dis. I dnt only want u to read, but stop for sm minutes and pray in the word as it searches out ur fault and repent so that u can live a fruitful, victorious life in Christ. Stay tuned for more...
Posted on: Tue, 20 Jan 2015 09:59:07 +0000
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