Address—G.H. Hayhoe
DISCLAIMER: The following has been auto-transcribed. We hope it will help you to find the section of this audio file you are looking for.
And we sing together, hymn #250, hymn #250 From various cares. Our hearts retire, though deep and boundless. Their desire we've now to please but one Him before whom each knee shall bow. With him is all our business now. And those that are his own #250.
I'm very.
Tears our hearts are.
I'd like to turn this afternoon first of all to the book of Ecclesiastes.
Ecclesiastes.
And the 11TH chapter.
Ecclesiastes 11 and verse 9.
Rejoice, O young man, in thy youth, and let thy heart hear thee in the days of thy youth, and walk in the ways of thine heart and in the sight of thine eyes. But know thou that for all these things God will bring thee into judgment. Therefore remove sorrow from thy heart and put away evil from thy flesh.
00:05:20
For childhood and youth are vanity. Remember now thy Creator.
In the days of thy youth, while the evil days come not, nor the ears draw nigh, when thou shalt say, I have no pleasure in them.
Well, it was on my heart, dear young people, to speak this afternoon about 5 different young men in the Scripture. And this is the first one that I had before me. And perhaps it applies to some who are here. Perhaps there are some who have come this afternoon to these meetings and you don't yet know the Lord Jesus as your precious Savior. You're still trying to find something in this life that will fill and satisfy your heart.
And so this first occasion is addressed to.
So a young man rejoiced, so a young man in thy use. For this is a meeting that is specially for young people. And notice what it says. And let thy heart hear thee in the days of thy youth, and walk in the way of thy ways of thine heart and in the sight of thine eyes. Doesn't that remind us of what is so very common today? We hear so much about doing your own saying and planning your own life, deciding your own destiny, everything.
All you can just do your own will and independence of God, and perhaps through some young person, maybe there are more than one of the young people here and you've come in here with just that concept of life.
You said I just don't like the idea of everybody telling me what to do, and I don't like them to bring verses of the Bible before me because I feel I should just go my own way and do as I like. I'm not doing anything very wrong. And after all, in this day and age, standards are a little different than they were before. Is this the way you're thinking? Is this the way?
Your mind is working at this time. Well, here's a word and you say, well, it sounds.
And what you have said as if that's the way you should live your youth, it sounds as if God was telling you to go on in that way, but He is just telling us in this verse and all, how serious it is that there is such a way of living. But it's a very sad and serious way. And I want to warn you, dear young people, that if you go on in this way, you may saw a great many seeds of sorrow that may affect the whole of your later.
Even if the Lord in His goodness should bring you to himself, how often we can sow in our youth of those things that we have to reap later on. Or how many young people have started out, and they call it to have their flame, and then the Lord in His grace saves them. But what sorrow they have to reap, what remorse. And so how lovely this passage really is in bringing before us the importance of this word.
Lord, remember now thy Creator in the days of thy youth. It's a wonderful thing to be brought to know the Lord Jesus as your Savior while you're young.
I was thinking this afternoon of different instances in the Scripture, too, of men who were brought in contact with the Lord Jesus. I think of a young man named Saul, Saul of Tarsus. He was going his own way. He was going on just as he thought was right. He even said in Acts. I verily thought with myself that I ought to do many things.
Contrary to the name of Jesus of Nazareth, he had all his own ideas.
US and no one in the Christian community was going to interfere with his ideas. He was going to go his own way until the Lord met him. And oh, what a mighty change took place when the Lord met him on that road to Damascus. What a change when that light above the brightness of the sun shone down round about him. And if there should be anyone here, I say, and you're just going on walking in that way.
I must read the rest of the verse to you, for it is immensely solemn. Notice what it says. But know thou that for all these things God will bring thee into judgment. Perhaps you say, well, what is sin really? What is it? Well, sin as it's defined in in John's epistle is lawlessness. It's just doing thy own will and independence of God.
00:10:05
Is choosing my own way shutting God out of my life?
And doing just as I please.
And it has. So it tells us here. What is the sad end of such a course? It says here.
But know thou that for all these things God will bring thee into judgment. There's another verse in Matthew that says, every idle word that man shall speak, he shall give account thereof in the day of judgment. Have you stopped to think what sad results there will be from lost time in your life? What it might mean to go on and just say, Well, why should I acknowledge?
The Lord's rights over me. Well, first of all, in Him we live and move and have our beings. Not one of us could move a hand or take a step if He didn't give us the strength to do it. The Bible says if God thought only of Himself and gathered unto himself his breath and His spirit, all flesh would perish together, and man would return unto the dust. And there was a young man who was going on in his own way.
And he was told by Daniel, the God in whose hand thy breath is, and whose are all thy ways, hast thou not glorified? Is there someone here? And this is the way that you're living. Oh, I beseech you to realize what is the end of such a course. I warn you that ahead is the judgment of God if you go on walking in your own way. And that isn't something that is just an uncertainty, it says.
Know thou that for all these things God will bring thee into judgment. Have you stopped to think of what it will be when you have to stand before God and give an account of the way you have left God out of your life. You haven't acknowledged Him as your Creator. You haven't recognized what was done at Calvary's cross for your salvation.
What a solemn warning to this young man.
And then in his 10th verse, it says, therefore remove sorrow from thy heart. Might mention that the new translation reads, remove discontent from thy heart. And this is quite remarkable too, because I'm quite sure of one thing, that if you haven't already found it out that sooner or later you're going to find out that the pleasures of sin do not satisfy.
They're only for a season and they bring sad results.
And not only has sad results, but even in the present, no matter what you may say about I don't see anything wrong in it. You know very well that it's not bringing that peace and that joy to your heart that you want to find in life. You haven't found life until you have found the Lord, because apart from Him it's only death.
It says all they that hate me love death, and then it says, therefore put away evil from thy flesh. For childhood and youth are vanity, that is, if there live for self. But there's another side to it too, and that is as we'll see in looking at these other young men. There are those who have in their youth recognize the Lord's claims and been blessed by it. As I look over the great number of young people here.
It gives my heart joy because I know that life is becoming increasingly difficult. The whole challenge today and to use is to contribute something to this world and to make a name or a place for yourself and make the most out of life. But the Bible shows us that life is only a vapor that appears for a little time. It's eternity that counts. Are you living in view of time? It's all for. It's all for such a short time.
Time but eternity just think of it eternity with Christ or eternity under the judgment of God eternity in his presence where there's fullness of joy or to be banished from his presence forever, or even if you are a Christian, to live your life in such a way that as we read.
In First Corinthians chapter 3 it says if any man's work be burned, he shall suffer loss, yet he himself.
Shall be saved, yet so is by fire. That is, you can have a saved soul, but a lost life, a lost life. What is a lost life? A life that's lived for self, A life where the Lord is left out and you just live for your own interests, for your own concerns. All dear young people, May God speak to each one of our hearts and I think especially of you growing up in this present age.
00:15:05
When it takes real purpose of heart, it's true that in this land.
You may not have to go to the stake and be burned for Christ. You may not be put in prison and be tortured in this land. But I do say this, it's going to cost you something. It's not going to be easy, but it's well worthwhile because we have such a wonderful Savior and to go through life in His company and with the knowledge of His love and of His approval in your life, His true peace and His true joy.
To the first man.
The first young man that we read about is one that is going his own way and it says, remember now thy creator in the days of thy youth, before the evil days come are the years drawn nigh, when thou shalt say, I have no pleasure in them. Some of us are getting a little bit older and you know as we get older why we feel this very true what it says here.
That you don't find the same pleasure in living and as people might say, it all don't get.
The same things out of life that when you're young, but we still have the same blessed Savior and all. How those of us who are older sitting in these chairs this afternoon, how we thank God, many of us, that we were brought to the Lord when we were young, How we praise him for the grace that saved us. There's not one of us who are older here who were saved in use, who would say, oh, I wish I had had a bigger fling in the world.
Then I would have wanted to follow Christ.
Everyone of us who were older, who know the Lord and who found them in our youth, just thank Him and praise Him from our hearts that He saved us while we were young. And so I plead with you, dear young people, The Lord Jesus is the one who can make your life worthwhile. He's the one who loves you, who finds His joy in your blessing, and who wants to have you as His companion, walking through life and for all eternity above.
Now we turn over to the gospel of Mark, and we'll come to another young man.
Mark's Gospel, chapter 14.
Mark's Gospel, chapter 14.
And verse 51.
And there followed him a certain young man, having a linen cloth cast about his naked body. And the young man laid hold on him, and he left the linen cloth, and fled from them naked.
This is a very interesting little incident that is recorded here in the gospel of Mark. It's the only gospel where we have this recorded, but I believe it speaks a good deal to us.
Now why is this little story brought in?
Well, first of all, I would say that I believe this young man represents to us a person who's putting on an outward exterior but doesn't have reality underneath.
Quite easy to put on an outward exterior. It's quite easy to deceive your parents. It's quite easy to deceive your brethren and to put on a kind of an exterior of being devoted. You come to the meetings and your parents really think that you have a desire, but how often it's so that all this can be on the outside. But inwardly the heart is not taken up with the Lord Jesus. He's not really precious to you.
And you know, dear young people, as one, I can speak for myself brought up in the meeting, brought up under the sound of God's Word and in a Christian home. It's very easy to be like this young man. It's very easy to pass before others with an outward show because the linen garment just is a figure in the Scripture. The Bible says the fine linen is the righteousness of Saints. Now it's not talking about salvation. The righteousnesses of Saints means.
Practical righteousness in our lives. And you know, we can put this on before others. I say we can put on a real pretense. But you know, I want to warn you, dear young people, it came in my life and perhaps it's coming in yours, or perhaps it has come and the Lord makes known whether our pretense, it's only a pretense or whether there's something real underneath.
This young man thought he was.
Very devoted. It seems almost as if he was showing off others, because at this point the disciples had all forsaken the Lord and fled. But he wasn't going to be like them. He was going to follow even if the others didn't. He was going to put on quite a display. But I say the testing time had to come. The testing time had to come. And what was it? Somebody reached out and put his hand on this young man, caught hold of him.
00:20:13
And he wasn't able to withstand that situation. And such a situation will come in your life or mine. I believe it came in my life right after a conference like this, where the Lord had to show me whether I was really doing it for the eyes of others or whether I was doing it for him. And it's going to come in your life too, if it hasn't already come. And I beseech your dear young people that there's no use putting on a pretense before others because the Bible says.
All things are open and naked unto the eyes of Him with whom we have to do. Yes, God knows our hearts. He knows the very innermost thoughts of our hearts, and He wants reality. Are you going on with the Lord in the secret of your own soul? Are you really seeking to please Him when, apart from all others, you get down on your knees at night?
Is it true that you really want to please the Lord Jesus?
That you really want to give him the place that he deserves in your life and in mine. Oh, he's done everything to win. That he went to Calvary's cross and died for us. He's living for us there as our great high priest above at the right hand of God. Do we need help? Well, certainly when we're young and at all stages of life, we need help. We just can't meet the conflicts of life in our own strength. It's absolutely impossible.
The Lord Jesus said.
God without me he can do nothing. But there's a great many of us that are like Peter. We think we can do something our own. We think that we can handle situations on our own. And Peter said, O Lord, if all the rest of the disciples should deny thee, yet will not I? He didn't realize how much self-confidence there was in that statement. And we often don't realize too. And then the Lord has to put us to the test some supreme.
Test comes in our life, something that discovers to us whether we really want to follow the Lord Jesus, whether we really want to put him first, whether he's going to be before everything else in our lives. And this test comes, it came in the life of this young man. And what did he discover? Well, it says he let go the linen cloth. In other words, all that that he had pretended was going on outwardly.
He let go and he fled from them naked. He had absolutely nothing underneath. And many of us have observed such things and we say, can it be that young person? We thought he was so promising and look where he has gone.
There has to be reality.
It says man looketh on the overt appearance, but the Lord looketh upon the heart. And so I want to say to you, dear young people, do you want to go on in the secret of your own soul? Well, I would just say to you, remember that there are two things that are most necessary in your life, and that is the reading of the Word of God and prayer. There needs to be always and constantly.
And that washing of water by the word, constantly in the quiet of your own room, not just when you go to meeting, when you're sitting with your brethren or with another group of young people. But I say quietly, alone with him, that you should be there before him, reading his precious word, learning more of his will, and then getting down before the Lord and telling him that you have no strength of your own.
That you can't meet the youth conflicts in your own strength. That you can't and that you don't not only don't have the strength, but you don't know what to do. And life is so complex, it's full of hard questions. And just like the Queen of Sheba, he tried to find the solution to all these hard problems she had.
Position she had wealth and she thought if there's anyone who could possibly find a solution, surely she could in her own land, but she couldn't who did she have to meet She had to meet King Solomon and how what is the answer to your problems and mine Oh, it's the Lord Jesus himself he's the only one who can give us the answer to all these problems, these questions that continually rise in life and.
Here we find a young man. He had the outward but not the inward, and he fled. And so I say with you and I, may we sustain the inward life. Go on quietly with the Lord. One thinks of Paul speaking to Timothy, and how he exhorted that young man and said.
00:25:16
Meditate upon these things gives thyself wholly to them, that thy profiting may appear unto all. Take heed to thyself and to the doctrine. Continue in them, for in so doing thou shalt both save thyself and them that hear thee. Oh, there's so many snares and pitfalls of use, and we're so weak, and has Satan is so strong.
But greater is he that is in you than he that is in the world.
Oh, dear young people, this young man seems to bring before us the importance of dependence upon the Lord, of maintaining that inward spring of fellowship with the Lord, so that what is seen on the outside is the result of the inward result of going on with the Lord quietly. And then when difficulties and trials arise, we will find, like Paul, he had a difficult situation. All his brethren forsook him, and he said.
Notwithstanding, the Lord stood with me and strengthened me all he will, he will not fail you. So here we find in this young man the importance then that we should maintain that inward life with God. And I want to say in life, with all your heavy studies and all the demands of business and.
Perhaps a young man is married and you know have a financial stress is so great.
I know how very difficult it is to try and meet the situations of life and if we're not carefully, just take all our time, all our time, and we need that little hymn says take time to be holy. We need to take time. You'll never have time for the word and prayer. You'll never have time for any of those things unless you take time. Take time.
Mary learned that lesson, and she took time.
Time to sit at Jesus feet. Martha didn't learn it so easily and she was busy, but she didn't take time to sit at Jesus feet. Well then we come to another. Perhaps in Exodus chapter 33 we have another young man brought before us.
Exodus chapter 33.
And begin at the seventh verse. And Moses took the Tabernacle, and pitched it without the camp, afar off from the camp, and called it the Tabernacle of the congregation. And it came to pass, that everyone which sought the Lord went out unto the Tabernacle of the congregation, which was without the camp.
And then the 10th verse. And all the people saw the cloudy pillars stand at the Tabernacle door. And all the people rose up, and worshiped every man in his tent door. And the Lord spake unto Moses face to face, as a man speaketh unto his friend. And he turned again into the camp. But his servant Joshua the son of Nun, a young man, departed not out of the Tabernacle.
Now here we have another young man. To me, it's very interesting to trace the life of this young man. It's Joshua.
And we see this young man, first of all, when they came out of the land of Egypt, he comes out at the time that they started to worship the golden calf. And well, first of all, we see how.
Before this, he had led the people against Amalek. And I just want to give you a little thought about this. You know, Amalek speaks to us of Satan's power over the flesh. And here was a young man. Did he have all the feelings that that young people have? Did he all have all the drive and everything that young people have? Yes, he did. But this young man, he took the lead in seeking to go out commanded of God.
Against Amalek. Next time we read of him, the people had fallen into the worship of the golden calf, and it tells us here about Joshua that he was much concerned about that. And now we come to here, where the Tabernacle of the congregation was pitched without the cap.
Wasn't a very popular place, but it was a wonderful place because it tells us.
That everyone which sought the Lord went out unto the Tabernacle of the congregation which was without the camp. Why did he go there? Well, it says they sought the Lord. Oh dear young people, do you and I really seek the Lord? I trust we do desire to have His mind and will collect individually, but here it seems to me that it brings before us collectively.
00:30:18
What a grand privilege it is to be gathered to the precious name of the Lord Jesus.
And not because that we're boasting about something, a possession or something, but what was it that made as long as it went out to this Tabernacle of the congregation, what was it made them go there at this time? I don't believe it was the wonderful Tabernacle that we later read of that was constructed, but this was something that was a place of reproach. And this was a place apart from the camp, not like the one afterwards built that was right in the center, but this was a place of reproach.
Are you and I content to go without the Cam just because we want to be around the person, the Lord Jesus?
Well, tells us here that later on.
When Moses came by, it says all the people saw the cloudy pillars stand at the Tabernacle door and then they go out. Did they say, well we want to be there because the Lord is there? No, it says they rose up and worshiped every man in his tent door. It wasn't popular. Even though they did see the glory cloud there. There were many of them that chose an easier path and you know it is not an easy path to follow the Lord.
Individually, and it's not an easy path to follow the Lord collectively to go on in the path that he is marked out in his precious word will cost something. And we're not told here about Joshua having any company in the stand that he has taken. It just simply says in the latter part of this 11TH verse. But his servant Joshua, the son of Nun, a young man, departed not out of the Tabernacle of the congregation.
Even if many of the others decided to worship at their tent door. Or perhaps I hear someone say, but didn't Moses go into the camp? Yes. And doesn't the Lord work in the camp? Aren't souls being saved all around us in the camp? Yes, we thank God that they are. We thank God for everyone who is brought to know the Lord Jesus as His Savior, no matter how or when.
It's brought about. We thank the Lord for the proclamation of the God.
The gospel, Paul said, whether in pretense or in truth, Christ is preached, and I therein do rejoice. Yeah, and will rejoice. But it always cause Joshua to leave the Tabernacle of the congregation which was without the camp. No. Why was he there? Well, not because he wanted to be identified with the crowd, not even because he was seeking blessing, although we delight to see blessing and we thank God for.
But he sought the Lord, he sought the Lord, and dear young people will never be preserved unless this is before our souls. This young man sought the Lord. Afterwards this young man was chosen to be a spy, to go into the promised land and to bring back some of the fruits of that land and to tell the people what a good land it was. And afterwards he had the privilege of leading the people into the land. What was it?
Life of this young man that gave him this privilege or there was a constancy there was a going on with the Lord. Joshua sought the Lord his very name means Jesus or Jehovah the Savior. That was everything to him and it characterized his whole life and as I look into the faces of so many of you young people.
All how long that the Lord would keep you, and preserve you, and give you the grace?
To continue in the past that he has marked out in His Word, I know there are trials and difficulties. There were things going on in the camp here that must have greatly concerned Joshua and did. But what did he value? He valued the place where the Lord had.
Tall It's where we're told here that everyone that sought the Lord went out to the Tabernacle of the congregation. And in its New Testament connection it says, Let us go forth therefore unto Him, without the camp, bearing His reproach. And all my desire is that the Lord would keep each one of us walking in the path that is pleasing to Him in obedience to His Word, for his coming is near. Soon the Lord Jesus is going to come and give that shout.
So here we find one who valued the Lord's presence.
00:35:02
Now let's turn over to Zechariah and we'll see another one. Zechariah, second last book in the Old Testament, chapter 2 and verse one. I lifted up mine eyes again and looked and behold, a man with a measuring line in his hand.
Then said I, Whither goest thou? And he said unto me, to measure Jerusalem, to see what is the breadth thereof, and what is the length thereof.
Be all the Angel that talked with me went forth, and another Angel went out to meet him, and said unto him, Run, speak to this young man, saying, Jerusalem shall be inhabited as towns without walls, for the multitude of men and cattle are in. For I saith, the Lord will be unto her a wall of fire round about.
And will be the glory in the midst of her. Well, you know in this.
Prophet Zechariah, God in His goodness had gathered back a little remnant from the captivity. They had come back to Jerusalem. But it tells us in the beginning of this book that many of them had settled down and they were not. They were not going on for the Lord. There was much to cause sorrow of heart to Nehemiah and to.
And to Ezra as these people had come back.
And they were all occupied with their own affairs. Tells us in the Prophet Haggai that they were building their houses, they were making money to put in a bag with holes. But there just seemed to be so much that was going on. Had they come back to the city which the Lord had called by his name? Yes, they had. Wasn't a wonderful return ordered of God? Yes, it was.
But it's quite possible for us to know the truth.
But how easy it is for us, even knowing the truth and even seeking to be where the Lord would have us as gathered to his precious name, just settling down to our own interests, looking after our own things. And this young man, as he looked things over, he was very discouraged. And I know that there may be a number of young people here and just say, well, I'm just discouraged.
The little meeting where I lived, there's so.
Activity, There's not much going on and we do come to remember the Lord Jesus in his death, but it just seems that there's a coldness and there's not the interest in the things of the Lord and there's nothing to take up your time and interest. It's easy to settle down and get concerned about getting along in the world. And that was the condition of things that existed here. And God raised up Haggai and Zechariah to stir up God's people.
To seek to build a house and to be occupied with his interests. But here is a young man where we read here in this chapter, and he was going to measure Jerusalem. You can sort of picture this young man. He had known a little bit of what Jerusalem had been in the past.
For it was a wonderful city in the time of King Solomon.
The nations of the earth came up there. That beautiful temple had been built by Solomon. The queen of Sheba made her journey all the way from down in the South up to Jerusalem to see the glory of the Kingdom. And perhaps his mind turned back to that. And perhaps your mind turns back to days in the past and you think, well, I read this and that.
In days of those great men of God like Mr. Darby and Mr. Kelly.
Mr. McIntosh But things are different today. They're not the same. And I suppose this is the way this young man was doing. He was measuring, he was making a kind of a comparison in his mind about what things had been like in the past. And I'm quite sure that as he measured Jerusalem and then thought of what it had been in the past, he was very discouraged.
And it might be that there are some young people here, and perhaps.
Some older ones too. And you say, well, it's lovely when we come together at a meeting like this and we really enjoy listening to the ministry and meeting our brethren. But it's so different when you go back home and things are things are so weak and we just feel discouraged. Well, that was the way it was this young man and he was measuring Jerusalem.
And it tells us that there was an Angel that talked with Zechariah the prophet, and another Angel came and he was told, run speak to that young man. How was he told to do to help him to make the measurements to be sure they were accurate? Oh, no, he wasn't told to do that at all. Listen to the message.
00:40:21
That was carried by the Angel, he said. Jerusalem shall be enhanced.
As towns without walls for the multitude of man and cattle are in. In other words, what was he told to do? He was told to look on to a coming day of glory, when Jerusalem, the city of the great King, will be the center of that wonderful millennial scene of glory. And what is it that will sustain us, dear young people, that will keep us going on? There are many discouragements in the path of faith. What is it that will sustain us?
Oh, it's looking on to that time. Oh, I love to think of that time in my own heart, when the Lord Jesus descends from heaven with a shout and calls all his own around himself. Mr. Darby and his little hymn puts it like this. Who shall to me that joy of Saint throng? Courts declare for God himself vote safe to dwell. And every bosom fell. And as you sit here in these meetings.
And meet a few of the young people and brethren from elsewhere. Oh, what a thrill to look on to the time. And it might be this very afternoon when the Lord Jesus will give that shout. And there around the Lord Jesus, we'll meet him. He'll be in the midst, the center and glory of the whole throng, and all the redeemed will be there.
Not one divergent thought that somebody that you meet that perhaps.
You Col.
I can't have the same fellowship I'd like to have with this person or that person. And we know that all of us are not going on for the Lord just as we should. But oh what a moment that will be. And everyone we meet will be just like Christ. Every heart will be full of His praises. Christ will be the center. As another has said, every St. will be gathered to Christ.
What a glorious thing, what a hope this was and this would sustain that young man.
And so as we look forward to that glorious day and think of it, it gives us faith and patience to go on in this present time, living for the Lord Jesus.
And it tells us here in the next verse. For I say that the Lord will be unto her a wall of fire round about her, and will be the glory in the midst of her. What was going to be the glory? Always say the street of gold, the gates of Pearl. Now the Lord himself, the Lord himself. And dear young people, if your eye can only be set upon the Lord Jesus, if you can just see Him as the object for your heart as we go back and.
Spoken on, we see how here's the person who had his eye on all the things of the world and they didn't satisfy. Here's someone who was trying to put on some something outward and there was no reality to it, and that didn't bring any satisfaction either. Then we find Joshua and in the day of great have failure and weakness. What did he seek? He sought the Lord. What was it that preserved him? Well? He wanted to be where the Lord was, the Tabernacle.
Of the congregation. Then here we see someone who's measuring and he's disappointed, I'm sure, because what a few there were, you only have to read Ezra and Nehemiah to see that there were just a very small remnant that came back from the captivity to Jerusalem. And then if you want to know something about their condition, just read.
In Ezra and read in Nehemiah and read in the.
Prophet Malachi, you would you say, well, just because these people all came back, they were wonderful spiritual giants. They really wanted to go out into the Lord and they wouldn't have come back from Babylon, not at all. Just read those books and you'll see they were just like ourselves, a poor, failing lot. What was it? That was the glory. Oh, the Lord was there. And oh brethren, as we think of this, then we look on, there is a future ahead.
Let us not measure things by what we see now, but have before us that time when everyone, every member of the body of Christ, will be gathered there around the Lord Jesus to sing His praises. I'd like to turn to just one more young man in First Timothy, First Timothy and the 4th chapter and the 12TH verse. Let no man despise thy youth, but be thou an example of the believers in.
00:45:15
In conversation, in charity, in spirit and faith, in purity, till I come give attendance to reading, to exhortation, to doctrine. Neglect not the gift that is in thee, which was given me by prophecy with the laying on of the hands of the presbytery.
Meditate upon these things, Give thyself holy to them, that thy profiting may appear to all. Take heed unto thyself and unto the doctrine. Continue in them. For enduring this, thou shalt both save thyself and them that hear thee.
Now, what we have been Speaking of about these other young men seem to be in connection with their own souls that we were particularly dealing.
But here, perhaps we could say about Timothy that he he became a useful young man.
And as I look over you young people, how often I think if the Lord leaves us here, how we desire that as we see young men and sisters too, with real ability that you would seek to be useful for the Lord Jesus.
Useful because the Lord Jesus said in the 4th chapter of John say not there four months and then comest harvest and then it's in other words, it's quite a little while. There's plenty of time. He says, say not there yet four months and then cometh harvest. But I say unto you, lift up your eyes and look on the fields, for they are quite already to harvest. There is something for each young person to do.
Timothy was a young man, and there was some.
For Him to do, as we have been noticing in our Bible reading this morning.
And notice what it tells us. First of all, before saying anything about Timothy's usefulness in the Church of God, we see his own personal character brought before us. Be thou an example of the believers in Word, in conversation, in charity, in spirit, in faith, in purity. What a what a standard is brought before us here.
No, their God has no lower standard than His own beloved Son.
How often we hinder what we say by our own lives when we are not walking in the good of these things practically. How often our service is spoiled because as people look at us, they say, well, I've watched his life.
And I know he does quite a few things that I don't think a Christian should do. And so here is a young man, and he's exhorted first of all about his own life. And dear young people, can I pass this exhortation on to you?
My desire is that you should be useful. I'm sure there would be great blessing in our assemblies if our young people saw it in this way to be examples.
And that our whole manner of life, that love emanated from us, that there was a characteristic and motivating principle in our lives, and then that we showed the right spirit. How often we get annoyed and upset about things we don't show the Christian spirit. And then he says in faith, we have to learn to count upon God, many of us. And I think God allows it when we're young.
The Bible says it's a good thing for a man to bear the yoke in his youth.
And I believe the Lord allows a lot of reverses to come in use because he's preparing us while we're young for what he has for us to do. And then in purity that we're living in a very, very impure age. We're living in a day when conversations, pictures, everything possible is put into the minds of youth to try and.
Destroy purity all your young people. May the Lord keep us.
May the Lord keep us not only faithful to Him in many other ways, but all from those kind of snares that would spoil the very testimony that we would seek to render before the people of God in purity.
Then he tells them about his habits.
Reading exhortation, doctrine, what precious volumes of truth we have. I have a lot of very good books in my library and I haven't read them all yet. There's there's such a volume of truths for us and how thankful we can be for it. Here's a young man exhorted was mentioned this morning. How often there can be in our assemblies a lack of teaching. And perhaps it's because.
00:50:08
In the quiet of our own lives.
We haven't given attendance to reading, to exhortation, to doctrine. People say all activity is the great thing, but all in these days doctrine is so important. The devil is at work to destroy the foundations of the faith. May God give us to value the truth of God and to walk in it. And then he says neglect not the gift that is in me. Many of you young people have real ability.
Are you using all your ability to get along in this world, or are you seeking to use the ability God has given to you for Him and for His glory?
There are many lost gifts to the Church of God. Timothy had to be stirred up. Paul had to say in Colossians and say to Archippus, take heed to the ministry that thou hast received in the Lord, that thou fulfill it. And so here was a gift that had been communicated to Timothy, and it was a gift with which he had when that expression says with the laying on of the hands of the presbytery, the presbytery is simply the elderhood, and it simply means that.
Where there is a gift, why there is the recognition of that gift and the fellowship of our brethren in seeking to use it for the Lord. What a nice thing we see here in this young man.
And then he says meditate upon these things. They've heard it said that meditation is a lost art. And, you know, I really think that it is more difficult to meditate.
Now, when we think a few years back when people didn't have motorized vehicles or if they did, the roads weren't as busy. Now as you know, when you get at the wheel, you can't meditate. You have to watch what you're doing. If you're working in a machine, you have to have all your wits about you. Working at that machine. It's very hard. The only way you'll ever have any time for meditation is to get away from all the activity and get along.
And that takes spiritual energy. That one brother used to say, well, I could go behind the plow and all the horses were going along. I could meditate on Scripture. But you can't run a truck to that way, can you? And you can't, you can't do these things so easily today. We're living in difficult days. But we just read this morning, perilous times. It is difficult. But greater is He that is in you than he that is in the world.
Dear young people, I know it's going to take spiritual energy. I know it's not going to be easy. But may I exhort you meditate upon these things. Give thyself wholly to them. In other words, we belong to the Lord. We're his body, soul, and spirit. May we seek to recognize His claims over us and give ourselves to Him, and that his interests become our interests. That's what I take from that expression. Give thyself wholly to them.
In other words.
When you're some person's interests become your interests, then you give yourself wholly to them. And you know, we haven't really given ourselves wholly to the Lord until his interests become ours. What is he interested in this world? I hope you and I are interested in everything that he's interested in. Is he interested in the gospel? Is he interested in our dear young people? Is he interested in the assembly? Oh, he's interested in everything that.
Concerns His glory and the blessing of His people. And then He gives a little warning here. Take heed to thyself and unto the doctrine. Continue in them. For in doing this thou shalt both save thyself and them not hear Thee. We've been talking about youth. We've been talking about starting out. We've been talking about those decisions that are made in use. And there's so many momentous decisions that are made in use. But after we've made these decisions.
And after we have really said, well, I do want to please the Lord Jesus. I do want to live for him. I do want to acknowledge his claims. Can we just rest on our oars now and say, well, I've made my decision. Everything's going to go along all right? Oh, no, the devil's never going to leave you alone.
Never, never. But neither is the Lord, neither is the Lord, he says. And lo, I am with you always.
Even unto the end of the age, or as another translation is. And lo, I am with you all the days. O dear young people, may the Lord not only give you the grace to start out, but all to walk each day, to get up in the morning, look up to the Lord, seek His preserving grace. Oh, as I think of many dear young men that I knew when I was young.
00:55:13
Know how nicely they started out, but all only the Lord can keep any of us. And if he doesn't keep you and I, what will we be tomorrow? We don't know unless he keeps us. And so surely there's something for us in these different young men that we've had before us. And I hope they'll speak to your heart. Dear young people, not only man, but sisters form a valuable part. And I just like to say in closing that.
That the sisters have a tremendous part in.
Because in my observation, I've noticed over and over again that when a young man seeks to go on for the Lord and gets the right partner, it's a true helpmate. And you may say, perhaps you sisters, well, we don't have a public place to fulfill, but you influence the person who takes the public place far more than you think, far more than you think. And so I pray for you too, dear sisters, that the Lord would preserve and keep you.
And make you useful and help you to be a true helpmate to the one who may be your partner, if such is God's will for you.
But May God grant that as we think of these things that we will realize the importance of youth. I just have been struck, and perhaps I've commented this before, but perhaps it bears repeating, that if you turn to I think it's the 27th of Leviticus, you'll find the value at different ages.
And tells us up from.
Five years old up to 20. I think the value of a man was 20 shekels.
From 20 years to 60 years is valued up to 50 shekels, and when he passed 60 years old, his drive value dropped to 15 shekels. I tell you young people, you don't know how important you are. What a blessing you can be. Some of us are getting a little bit older. We feel that we don't have the same push as we used to have. But you can use your use and your energy for the Lord Jesus. May the Lord grant that His love will touch your heart and constrain us.
It says, The love of Christ constraineth us, because we thus judge that if one died for all, then we're all dead, that we which live should not henceforth live unto ourselves, but unto him who died for us and rose again. May his claims stir our hearts for the rest of the time until he comes.