The Young Convert's Problems and Their Solution

The object of this little book is to help young Christians, and it seeks to do so by a biblical treatment of every subject.

It begins with a chapter on the Holy Spirit, because the young Christian’s greatest need is the enduement of the Spirit for power in service.

At the threshold of every Christian life stands the question, Shall I join a church, and, if so, what church? We do not discuss the question as to what church one should join, preferring to leave every one to decide that for oneself, but we do insist that every young Christian should join some church in which Christ is honored and the Scriptures believed.

The third chapter gives a glimpse of the Bible in the hope that every young Christian may be led to study it carefully, taking it as the authoritative guide of life. It is daily bread for the soul, and to neglect it is to starve.

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ii PREFACE

Through the Bible God speaks to us, and in prayer we speak to God. The chapter on the Bible comes before the one on prayer, because we should let God speak to us before we speak to Him, and a knowledge of the Bible with its “exceeding great and precious promises” is essential to effective praying.

The spirit of prayer with this knowledge of the Bible will prepare one to meet temptation, and chapter five is intended to furnish both warning and encouragement; warning to young Christians to be on their guard against insidious approaches of sin, and encouragement against despair to those who have been “overtaken in a fault.”

Every young Christian, rich or poor, needs to remember that the capacity to make money is a sacred trust, and that the possession of money carries with it weighty responsibility. The purpose of chapter six is to promote conscientious, intelligent and scriptural giving.

The question of amusements is one of the most important and yet difficult matters with which young Christians have to deal, and a mistake here often means the wreck of usefulness. In chapter seven we give principles by which one

may be guided, and, believing that they are sound and practical, we commend them to all who would be useful and at the same time happy Christians.

The “Ideal Christian,” whose portrait as drawn by the Apostle Paul we have tried to reproduce in the closing chapter, will, we trust, inspire every young Christian who reads this book to “press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.”

With a prayer for God’s blessing upon every reader, we commit these pages to Him whose glory we seek in the growth and usefulness of His children.

Jesus said, “Tarry ye in the city of Jerusalem, until ye be endued with power from on high” (Luke 24:49). What was that power? Certainly not an increase of knowledge, numbers, money, social position, or organization. These are mere influences and important. They should all be used for Christ. But influences are not sufficient for the needs of the church. The word “influence” occurs only once in the Bible, and that in the question of Jehovah to the patriarch Job: “Canst thou bind the sweet influences of the Pleiades?” (Job 38:31). “The sweet influences of the Pleiades” which bring the Spring with its bloom of flowers and song of birds are to be

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g yOUNG CONVERT’S PROBLEMS

welcomed and prized, but for the most effective Christian service we need more than genial influences. The need of every young Christian is in the New Testament word “power” which has in it the omnipotence of God.

The power which came on the Day of Pentecost was God Himself in the person of the Holy The Holy Spirit, who” like a rushing

Spirit Personal mighty wind filled all the house where they were sitting,” and as “tongues of fire sat upon each of them” (Acts 2:2,3). Power is God at work. He uses the Word as a sword, and the Christian as an agent. Power, however, is not in the sword, but in the arm that wields it. Nor is it in the agent, but in the Master whose servant he is. God delegates power to no one. Jesus said, “Go ye and disciple all nations, and lo, I am with you” (Matt. 28: 19, 20). In other words, “I will go with you and do the work myself, provided you fulfil the conditions I impose. You are to pray, trust, preach, and live the truth, while you depend upon me for power.”

The redeemed in glory sing, “Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive power” (Rev. 5:12), and every Christian, however weak in himself, has no right to give weakness in his service to Christ, for power is within the reach of all who believe. At Pentecost the Holy Spirit, the “Comforter,” the “Paraclete,” one who comes to our aid when we call, came to stay, and He has been with the church ever since. He is often grieved, and, like Jesus, unable to do mighty works because of our unbelief, but He is never absent.

The baptism of the Spirit is mentioned only in connection with Pentecost. Jesus said, “Ye shall be baptized with the Holy The Baptism Spirit not many days hence” the Spirit (Acts 1:5). And John said of Jesus, “He shall baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire” (Matt. 3:11). The baptism at Pentecost seems to have been once for all, and the enduement of the Holy Spirit for service is our entering upon the fulness of this baptism. The Holy Spirit, like the mighty rushing wind of Pentecost, is to-day the atmosphere of the church in which we live and move and have our spiritual being. But every man appropriates the atmosphere in which he lives according to his lung capacity. If he has only one lung, he appropriates only half as much as the man with two lungs. The consumption of unbelief, self-seeking, or any other sin may so congest our capacity for receiving the Spirit that He can occupy only a part of our being.

The sun every day fills the world with its light, and yet I may draw the curtains and shut the light from every room in my house, or admit it only to one room. So the Spirit of God, whose presence is light filling the church, may be admitted to only one or two rooms of our being.

The power-house is built once for all, and the motorman on the trolley uses the power furnished by the company according to the capacity of the wire for transmitting and the machinery on his car for utilizing it. At Pentecost the coming of the Spirit was like the building of the power-house once for all. We have not to pray the Spirit out of heaven; He is with us all the time, but the measure of His power depends upon the wire of faith and consecration through which He may work the machinery of our lives and bring things to pass.

The city builds the reservoir once for all, but the supply of water for every house depends on the pipe which connects with the reservoir, and the water will do the people no good unless the channels are open through which it may flow into their houses. Pentecost was the building of the reservoir once for all. The Holy Spirit is to be ever with the church, but His power depends upon the channels of faith and faithfulness through which He flows into our lives.

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