TREASURY OF SERMONS
What are the Dangers to Youths in this age?
By Rev (Dr) Jeffrey Khoo
Text: 2 Tim 2:22
The young people of the church are very
important people. You are VIPs! And it is because of this reason
that Satan spares no effort to destroy the youths of our day. It is
at this age that you face the greatest temptations in your life. It
is at this age that you make very important decisions in life. Make
the right decision, and your future will be bright. Make the wrong
one, and you may have to live with your mistakes for the rest of
your life.
The Lord knows this. And the Lord repeatedly
warns young people against the wiles of the devil and the
temptations of sin and the world. We find one such passage in 2 Tim
2:22 where Paul says, "Flee youthful lusts." Let’s study these words
by Paul.
"Youthful lusts" here are the desires of youth.
The word "lust" or "desire" is a very strong word for passion or
feeling. It refers to a strong yearning for something. It is not
simply desire, but strong desire. Most of the time in Scripture it
is used in the bad sense of sinful desire. The word "lust" in the
KJV gives this idea. What are these sinful youthful desires?
Sinful desires that tempt our youths today can
be classified under these 3 categories all beginning with P.
1. Pleasure
This is unholy sexual desire or fornication.
Paul in 1 Cor 6:18 tells us to "flee fornication." The word in Greek
is porneia where we get the word pornography. When Paul tells young
Timothy to flee youthful lusts, one of lusts he had in mind was the
lust for inordinate sexual pleasure. This is a real problem with
young people especially when they reach puberty. You suddenly find
yourself attracted to the opposite sex. This is natural. God made us
this way. But because of sin, this desire can lead us astray, and
cause us to do things that are against God’s will and Word. At this
time you will be bombarded with all kinds of temptations that come
from Satan, from the world, and from within yourself. The sexual
temptation is particularly strong. You want to experiment. Do all
the experiments you want in your school science lab, but don’t ever
experiment with sex! It is experiment that is bound to explode in
your face and ruin your life. Read Straits Times article (Mar 24,
’98): "These teens do it all . . ." Girls, pay attention to this:
One of the most precious gifts that you have, that God has given
you, is your virginity and chastity. The best gift you can ever give
to your husband to be is the gift of purity—your virginity. In 1 Cor
11:2, Paul talks about the church, "I am jealous over you with godly
jealousy: for I have espoused you to one husband, that I may present
you as a chaste virgin to Christ." Don’t ever allow yourself to be
used by your boyfriend, or succumb to his sweet whispers. If he
says, "If you love me, you will have sex me," give him a tight slap
(no, give a punch to his face), and leave him. The problem is many
girls today are too free with their morals. They frequent places
that pose a danger to their purity—discos, pubs, beach parties etc.
Another danger is the company you keep. What kinds of friends do you
have? And your parents say the company you keep is no good, listen!
Boys, make sure you keep your distance. If you truly love your
girlfriend you won’t even want sex until after marriage. The problem
today is that we have wimps who do not have the guts to say "NO!"
Say NO to sex, drugs, discos, pubs, bad company, rock music, filthy
language, dirty jokes, pornography etc.
2. Power
The lust to "shine" or be dominant. It is the
sin of pride. This results in boastings, envy, strife, selfish
ambition. One of the dangers pose to our youths today is this whole
idea of self-esteem which tells you that you need to consider
yourself highly, good, capable, strong, handsome/pretty,
intelligent, talented, popular etc. This is self-deception! It
generates a better-than-thou attitude. It leads to pride. This is
Satanic (Isa 14:12-14). The Bible says the opposite: we are no good,
we are absolutely sinful. Read Rom 3:9-18. Was Paul living a
victorious Christian life because he had a good self-esteem. No. He
said in 1 Tim 1:15, "Christ Jesus came into the world to save
sinners; of whom I am chief." This is proper self-esteem—we are good
at fighting against God. We are good at sin and disobeying God. They
way to a victorious Christian life is to consider oneself as the
chief of sinners: "Lord I am helpless, and hopeless, please help me
and give me hope." It is not self-esteem, but Christ-esteem that
will get us out of trouble.
3. Possessions
Materialism is not only the sin of working or
career people, but also of youths and students. I am shocked by the
reports in the papers that schoolboys and schoolgirls spend hundreds
of dollars on a T-shirt, or a pair of pants, handbags, etc. Part of
the crave for expensive clothes is due to peer pressure. My friends
have it, so must I. Dare to be different! Read Rom 12:1-2. Don’t
follow the trend or fashion of the world. Do not idolise these
pop-singers or actors. "Godliness with contentment is great gain" (1
Tim 6:6). "The love of money is the root of all evil" (1 Tim 6:10).
Some of these students work during the holidays in order to buy
these expensive stuff. For their industry, I respect them. But what
a colossal waste of money especially if you are a Christian. Use the
money for God’s kingdom and build up your treasures in heaven. Use
it for missions. Save up to go on mission trips. Use the money to
buy good Christian books to read. My shirts do not cost more than
$20 each.
Flee youthful lusts. It is an imperative. It is
a command, not a choice. The force of the commandment is this:
"Flee, and keep on fleeing youthful lusts." Run and don’t look back.
And for the rest of your life, keep on running away from youthful
lusts. Eg, When walk along the mall, and you come across a
pornographic picture, and you happen to glance at it; don’t turn
your head to look at it again. There is no sin in the first look,
the second look is deadly.
How to flee from youthful lusts? Learn from
Jesus. Read Luke 4:1-14. The Word of God is important—know it well!
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