The sermon titled 'Exhortations and Directions to Young People' by Scott Brown explores the process of conversion and awakening in the lives of sinners. The preacher describes three stages of sinners: the secure and insensible, the awakening, and the penitent and regenerate. He provides arguments, recommendations, encouragements, and warnings to each stage, emphasizing the importance of examining oneself, recognizing the greatness of sinfulness, and being aware of the consequences of remaining insensible. The sermon highlights the significance of the preaching of the word, the role of conscience, and the need for prayer and wise companionship in the journey of conversion. It concludes by urging individuals to fear God, give thanks, and pursue early usefulness.

Amen. Well, in chapter 8, it's called exhortations and directions to young people, and the whole outline of this chapter really reminds me of my own conversion. You know, if someone asks me how I was saved or when I was saved I Can say how? But I can't so much say when exactly Because it was like I was being pulled in slowly like by a rope. You know hand over hand, and I don't know if it was a year or two.

Something like that and I was seems like the Lord was just pulling me a little closer each time and then at some point it occurred to me that I loved him that I wanted to follow him and that I was his and he was mine and there wasn't a big flashpoint but there was a process that took place and at some point I recognized that I wanted his kingdom not mine I realized I wanted his way not mine but it was a realization now there are people who are fully awakened quickly and immediately and dramatically. That happens. And this author isn't speaking of that kind of awakening. His audience happens to be Christian families. And he's speaking to people who have been brought up in the training the admonition of the Lord.

At the same time there are people who seem to be instantaneously and dramatically converted and I don't believe this author would deny that or reject that but at the same time God has his way of preparing people for that moment. He sends evangelists and various things like that. And it is true, however, there are people who have been instantly awakened before the Lord. Praise the Lord for that. The preacher in this chapter identifies three stages that sinners go through.

You can see them in the outline. There's first the secure and insensible stage where you care nothing about God. And then there is a second stage where you're being awakened, and there's a third stage when you fear God. You might say that what the Lord often does is He draws people near through this method. You start out asleep, and then you begin to awaken, and then you are awakened.

There's a difference between being awakened and absolutely being awake. That happened to me this morning. It seems like it took about 15 minutes for me to arise out of my awakening process to being awakened. Or you might characterize it in a different way. Being hardened and then being softened and then being melted.

Or you might characterize it in another way being insensible and then thoughtful and then actually knowing God Or it would be easy to make it more simple to say that you were once dead, and now you're alive. But that's the process that the author here walks us through. You can see the outline in front of you. He builds his argument off of 2 Timothy 2, 22. Flee youthful lusts, but pursue righteousness, faith, love, peace, with those who call on the Lord out of a pure heart.

And so the preacher here speaks of these three kinds of people the secure and thoughtless The thinking and the awakened and the penitent and the regenerate So let's begin with the first that he speaks of the secure and the insensible And he speaks of those who are unconvinced of the love of God. They are resistant to God. And to these, He says, awake, awake sleeper, arise you sluggard, rise from your bed of sloth, how long will you slumber? The preacher in this chapter goes for the throat. I mean he uses some of the most devastating language for the asleep sinner, who just continues to stay dead to God.

And you'll be very interested to read some of the words that he uses to speak of this. But he's talking about the unconcerned and the unconvinced. He's talking about those who are so asleep that he calls them out of their slumber. And he gives a number of arguments to persuade them, beginning in page 171 at the top. And he first of all exhorts them to examine themselves.

And then secondly to consider the greatness of their sinfulness. And thirdly to recognize how inexcusable their condition is. Because there have been no roadblocks put in their way. They've received enormous encouragement to turn to Jesus Christ. And they've had no lack of time.

So he's saying, let me persuade you by these arguments. Examine yourself. And then he turns to this question. How will you answer? This begins at the bottom of page 172.

He says, what then will you say when God will arise? How will you answer it, oh young person, when God will bring you into judgment That you have not remembered your creator in the days of your youth But you have walked in the ways of your own heart and in the sight of your eyes. Verily, you have no cloak for your sin. Every mouth will be stopped. Behold, heaven, earth, and hell will bear a record against you.

Even your own conscience will speak as 1, 000 witnesses and strike you into silence and confusion whoever remains graceless in the day of grace will be found speechless in the day of judgment And then he goes on to say, your staying asleep is madness. You've lost your mind. And he just continues to use this kind of language. He actually says, you are drunken, stupid, blind, and mad. That's your condition when you stay hard to the Lord.

God is so kind to draw the hardened. But the truth is that it's a very foolish and stupid and drunken and mad state. That's what it really is. He says it like it really is. And then he begins to itemize various things that you must answer for first of all you must answer for your presumption you are presuming upon the mercy of God he says it's forgery it's fiction it's lying vanity it's an empty show of peace He's saying that it is a killing lethargy.

And he says, oh the stupidity then of your beloved dreams. He's just casting the sinner in the light of just being a stupid dreamer thinking that somehow this is going to pass by. It's not going to pass by. And then he speaks of the folly, number two, on the middle of page 173, that it's just pure folly. And then thirdly, it's bondage.

He says you are under the vilest servitude. And he quotes Revelation 3.17. You are wretched, miserable, poor, blind, and naked. And then fourthly, he uses that word again, stupidity. He says, oh what amazing stupidity and indolence this is.

Nothing is more unreasonable, nothing is more unaccountable. And then he speaks of the danger that a person is in, in the top middle of 174. He says there are innumerable dangers that threaten you, and he speaks of the dark prospects that face those who are unrepentant, the danger of their spiritual miseries, the prospect of being abandoned by God, the prospect of being judicially hardened and unable to turn at all. And then he speaks of eternal miseries, number six, and he quotes Proverbs 29, 1, He who is often rebuked and hardens his neck will suddenly be destroyed and without remedy. And he's speaking of young people who've heard it all.

They've heard the gospel 50 times. They keep hardening themselves against it. They don't care. They are bulletproof Nothing can touch them. They come into church.

They do their time They leave and he's saying you've hardened your neck so many times Do not be that person who is destroyed without remedy after hardening your neck so many times and Then he speaks of the eternal miseries number seven the hazards the prudence that is required and then At the bottom of 175 he speaks of the opportunity that you have. And he says that youth is really the best opportunity. You'll never have another time that is more compatible to your turning. Because as time goes on, you change. You get harder as years pass.

And he's saying, don't let the years harden your heart and so he says it is the fittest season by an early conversion the great ends of repentance are most promoted, which are for the glory of God. He says that you're not clogged with so many impediments. There aren't so many loyalties that you've built. Turn to Jesus Christ now before you've encumbered your life with all kinds of alliances with the world that have to be broken turn now and and Then he he speaks of what to do to awaken out of your sleep this at on page 182 and he makes various recommendations about how to correct your slumber, how to have your heart softened and then finally melted, You know how to how to begin to move into an awakened state. Number one debate with your heart.

He says go go away and spend some time debating with your heart and have an argument with yourself about how stupid it is to stay in your sin and and then he says diligently read the scripture as a second recommendation and And then he says attend the public ministry of the word go and subject yourself to the preaching of the word of God so that you'll hear about the love of Jesus Christ and the greatness of his laws and the perfections of his kingdom go and hear it and when and get yourself awakened out of your state of slumber he does say this choose your choose your preaching carefully at the bottom of page 183. He says, beware of an ignorant ministry, a ministry that is merely speculative or one that is superficial and at best only throws out a few squibs at grosser sins, but seldom if ever touches the more hidden spiritual sins, nor attempts to lay open the misery, guilt, and danger of a natural state and show sinners of their need of Christ for righteousness and strength. He says, make sure that you're under a skillful and orthodox, godly, experienced, practical, searching ministry that preaches Jesus Christ and does not shun to declare the whole council of God.

He's saying go find preaching like that. And when you find it, be quick to hear, that's near the top of page 184, And be aware of how God is moving your heart you want to be moved go in hear the preaching and say oh Lord Show me how you're moving my heart show me how you're changing it show me how you're pulling in the rope Show me how you're softening my heart and bring it to a final melting Lord show me you know if a person if a person is in that insensible dead state they should come and hear the preaching and ask God to save them and to be aware of how God is is Awakening them and then he says make sure you walk with the wise and he quotes Proverbs 13 20 he who walks with the wise will be wise but the companion of fools will be destroyed if you want to be awakened don't keep walking around with stupid people stupid as defined by his his previous definition as those who care nothing about God and his way. And then he says be sensitive to the whispering of your conscience.

God has given every person a conscience. And he's saying don't push down the whispering, Don't silence the whisperings of your conscience. Because God will speak to you. He'll begin to draw you. This is how he begins to pull in that rope.

He activates your conscience on one thing and then another. And he's pulling you in through your conscience. And then he says, seek the Lord by prayer, as well, at the bottom of page 185. So this is the message to the dead, the message to the insensible, the hardened person. This is, he's just addressing the hardened person.

Then he turns to those who are being awakened. This is not the state of being saved. This is the state of being awakened, where you begin to really understand what God is saying and what he's doing and he says when this begins to happen to you there are ten things that I've listed out of this book that he says that those who are being awakened, those who are getting closer, those who are drawing near, those who are beginning to see the kindness of the Lord, those who are beginning to say he is righteous, he is wonderful, He is beautiful. Beginning to see that and you're making progress toward Him and your heart is beginning to be drawn to Him. You're beginning to love Him.

First of all, give thanks. He said, let me exhort you to be thankful to God for your present troubles and convictions. See the hand of God in them look on your present trouble of conscience as a Work of the Holy Spirit. He says don't you see the mercy of God don't resent it He's trying to rescue from unhappiness for the rest of your life and for all eternity. And there's this really neat quote in the middle of page 187.

He says, it is the Spirit of God that is wounding you, and you need not fear a lance in the hand of love and tenderness. Do not regret your case but be thankful to God that you are not left to such a spirit of slumber as many others are about you and as you also deserve to be so. And so he's speaking of just the situation that a person finds themselves in when the Lord begins to prick their conscience, really begins to wound them, to show them that they are dead, to show them that they are wicked, that they have nothing to do with God and they actually hate God, but they're beginning to change. He says give thanks. And then secondly, at the top of page 188, take care in listening.

Listen very careful and be careful about what books you read and beware what teachers you consult. Be careful and then don't be rash. Don't make a bunch of rash resolutions. Take time. Consider the state of your soul and continue to move forward.

Then number four he urges to keep watch over self-righteousness and fifthly to keep watch over discouragement and sixthly to keep watch over worldliness and the worldly enticements that would suck you back in. He says this endeavor to get above the frowns and the flatteries of the world. In other words those who would try to manipulate you through frowning at your dawning godliness of your of your affections and then avoid evil company number seven and then watch out for the wiles of Satan number eight at the bottom of page 190 and then consider that there is a judge who is coming and he is coming and therefore you ought to make haste to cry out to him. Then he speaks about what true conversion is. He gives a warning, I'm gonna read this paragraph because I thought it was very helpful to describe some of the elements of a false conversion and how often young people think they're being converted when they aren't being converted.

They're just having a few different feelings. And I'll read this here. Let no man deceive himself. Beware of mistaking the nature or signs of conversion. Remember, conversion does not lie in nor is evidenced by a visible profession and a form of godliness, a reformed life and moral virtue, inward legal terrors, and transient qualms of religious melancholy.

It doesn't necessarily include volatile sparklings of devout affection, some sudden starts of desire and flashes of joy, a dead faith and a presumptuous reliance on the merits of Christ, or of a seeming peace and serenity of mind after great terrors of conscience and an apprehended work of convention of conviction he says there are too many who deceive themselves with these things judging their state good either upon wrong principles or false evidences and what he's saying here basically is that don't trust in your feelings don't trust because you've made a few changes that God has converted you now remember who these people are They're writing in 1721 and they have seen various manifestations of awakening, fake awakening, and so they're just warning of this fact that often a person can appear on the outside to be converted, but they're not really converted. They just wanted to cry. They just felt something. And so they made a big commitment. And you see this all the time.

You see this in large evangelistic crusades where people are caught in this moment. It's a very emotional moment. There's all kinds of excitement and they feel bad and then they have an emotional experience and you know most of the people who observe these kinds of Gatherings and they actually you know count how many people really became Christians. It's infinitesimal. You might have had a thousand people on the floor saying that they had received Jesus Christ, but a year later you can't find hardly any of them.

You might find 1% of them in churches. It's because they weren't converted. They had an emotional uprising. And he's saying, beware of just the emotional uprising. Because coming to Jesus Christ is really a matter of abiding in him.

And then he turns from those who are being awakened to those who are converted and they fear God. Their hearts desire God. They want to run to him not away from him and he gives various encouragements to those and he says that they ought to give thanks on page 194 and they ought to keep humility in their hearts on page 195 He urges them to beware of various dangers. He calls them to choose their friends wisely. He calls them to encourage one another as brothers and sisters.

He calls them to put away childish vanities. He calls them to pursue early usefulness and to grow in grace and to grow in dependence upon him. I really like the language that he uses on page 199 he says guard against all evil affections that your good may not be evil spoken of put away childish vanities and endeavor to be manly and discreet in your whole deportment abstain from all appearance of youthful lusts that the Word of God may not be blasphemed. And there are many, many instructions that he gives in this section and in this whole chapter. But here's the thrust of it.

God works in people's lives progressively You start out dead you start out insensible you start out You know unable to hear and then and then somehow the Lord Opens up your ears, you know, you're asleep then you're awakening and then you are awakened You're hardened then you're softened and then you're melted you are insensible and then you're thoughtful and then you know him And you know that you know Him. It really is very much as if God would somehow pull in His rope, and then you would be found in Him, and you would say, Lord, here I am. Here am I. Send me. Thank you for having mercy on me.

Make my life useful. Oh Lord, show me the way. Help me to make my way in this world in a way that pleases you. Because you are so good. And So when you finally recognize that you're there You you see him for who he really is You see him in his love You see the greatness of his mercy.

You see how wise he is You see how wonderful He is and you cry out in your heart. Oh Lord How wonderful are your works in wisdom? You've made them all So that's the whole process of salvation. It begins with hardness and it ends with a softness that is as sweet as you can imagine. Praise God.

Praise God that He does draw sinners. So who are you in this game that He presents? Are you the secure and the insensible? You just don't care. You're going on autopilot.

You're just going through the motions. Your parents are going to take you to church. That's fine. That's their thing. When this is over, I can go do what I want to do.

Are you there? Or are you being softened? Are you being awakened? And you're now you're beginning to see the goodness of the Lord and you're marking it. You hear this and it strikes you.

And then you hear that and it strikes you a little bit deeper. And you're realizing that God is speaking to you. And you are being awakened to Him. And you're actually leaning toward him instead of running away from him. And then you find that you fear him and in your fear of him, it's not that you are afraid of him, it's that you are in such an awe of him that you want to run toward him Because you need him and you love him So, who are you all of us are going to be found in one of these three categories Let's pray Lord we pray that you would reveal the condition of all of our souls, that you would show us whether we are insensible, whether we are being awakened, or whether we love you and know you.

Oh God, I pray that you would give all of us here such a keen sense of the state of our souls and that you would open up our eyes to see the truth about who we really are and that you would also soften our hearts and that you would save every soul among us amen Thank you.