The Bible tells us to "Remember now thy creator in the days of thy youth." Well, in the days of thy youth, that could be any age. We're to be young at heart, and so we're to be young in our outlook towards God and Christ. You know, the Bible tells us that all who have received His grace through the obedience of the gospel of Jesus Christ, they're to live their lives a certain way.
- Titus 2:11-12
You know, the grace, brings us salvation through Jesus Christ, but in bringing that salvation, they were also taught how to live. How the Christian ought to live; to not give in to ungodliness, not give in to worldly lust, but rather to live soberly. That means to be with the right mind or with the right thinking, to be free from intoxicants, certainly. We can't be said to be thinking clearly in our right mind if our mind is cluttered or clouded by alcohol or drugs or something like that. We're to live soberly; thinking right, righteously, doing right, and living godly.
And really, godliness is the result of living soberly and righteously. And so we're to live soberly, righteously, and godly in this present world. Our purpose in life, we're told,
- Ecclesiastes 12:13-14
The American Standard Version says, "...this is man's all." And when we think about it, that's exactly what it is all about, what we are here for. Everything about man is to fear God, to have that respect for God and His commandments, "For this is the whole duty of man. For God shall bring every work into judgment, with every secret thing, whether it be good or whether it be evil." The purpose in life is to fear God and keep His commandments and live righteously. The Lord is going to sit in judgment over us based on how we live our lives.
- 2 Corinthians 5:10
And so our obedience to His will, we're going to be judged based on our obedience. We're going to be judged based on how we react to temptation. We're going to be judged based on the way we influence others.
And so, no matter what phase of life you are in, God commands you to live righteously. There are some here that are elderly people, and maybe you're an elderly person and you have not been living right. What are you waiting for? The inevitable conclusion draws near with each breath that you take. It's not too late even at an advanced age to start obeying God.
A lot of elderly people have grandchildren and great-grandchildren and you can still have a positive influence in the lives of others. But even in old age, it's not too late.
know, I know of an older gentleman that he was in his upper 80s. He obeyed the gospel finally at probably 87 years old. He died less than a year later, or maybe just a little over a year later. He kept putting it off and putting it off until finally, he came to the understanding that he had to do something, that life was about to run out, and he became a faithful Christian.
And so it's not too late, even at a very advanced age, to obey God. A lot of people who are elderly have grandchildren and great-grandchildren. You know, you can still be a positive influence on your family. By beginning to live a righteous life from henceforth, you can reflect God's righteousness by your standard of conduct. So even an older person can remember now, thy Creator.
What about a middle-aged person? Perhaps you're so busy earning and living and providing the material means for your family that you've neglected the spiritual side of things. You've reached the midpoint of your life, and likely your children are now teenagers or even in their early 20s.
You have a lot of life remaining, almost as much as you've already used. You still have time to influence your children and your grandchildren by living a righteous life from here on out. You can decide from this moment that we, uh, you will be a faithful Christian and now will remember thy creator. You know, maybe you're a 20 or 30-something-year-old person.
You know, you haven't been living soberly, righteously, and godly in this present age. You're now in the prime of your maturity and life. Most at this age are already married, some with children. Uh, you are in a prime position to influence your children to begin to instill the love of God in their lives that they, uh, while they're still forming their personalities while they're still forming their attitudes and their habits, you can have a direct influence on them.
- Joshua 24:15
Now is the time for you to set that standard. Declare God's righteousness to your children by godly living in their sight. "Remember now thy Creator."
I intended the focus of this lesson to be on living righteously as young people. That's why I titled it Young Righteousness. Now, if you're alive at whatever age you are, you are still younger now than you will be next year so compared to what you will be next year or the next decade, you are still young. "Remember now thy creator in the days of thy youth."
- Ecclesiastes 12:1-2
I think the passage really has a profound meaning when you think about Solomon himself, the person of Solomon. We know what Solomon was like early on in his reign. He became king, he pleased God to the point that God said, I can give you anything you want if you just pray for it. What is it you want? He said, I want wisdom and I want knowledge to lead this people because I'm just a child. And so, God was very pleased with that since he didn't choose wealth, money, or fame. He chose wisdom.
God gave him the wisdom. He also gave him, the wealth and the fame, the position, I think, to see how he would use that wisdom. And we know there was a period of his life where he did not use God's wisdom correctly. He fell away from God. He led his nation into apostasy. Now it's my belief, or at least my hope, that he wrote the book of Ecclesiastes at a time in his life that he had returned back to serving God. And now, looking back at all of the years he wasted. He started out so well, and then he fell away, and he wasted years and years and years. And then only late in life was he able to come back to the Lord. And so he says,
"Remember now thy Creator in the days of thy youth, while the evil days come not, nor the years draw nigh, when thou shalt say, I have no pleasure in them;" — Ecclesiastes 12:1
You know, God wants us to serve Him. He seeks those that will worship Him in spirit and in truth, (John 4:24). When does God want us to serve Him? He wants us to begin now, in the days of our youth.
Aged Righteousness and Young Righteousness
You know, there are two beautiful things I want you to consider. You know, I think of some of the brethren I've known through the years that have gone on to their reward. You know, a picture, of a person of advanced years. Well, there are a few years remaining left to them. Everything about this person speaks of true, holy, godly, and righteous living. They have lived intimately with God since the time that they put on Christ in baptism, and have continued to grow throughout their life.
Then, there are a lot of folks that they may put on Christ in baptism, but they've never grown. Here is a person that has a very advanced age. They have been a faithful Christian for 50 or 60 or 70 years and they're still growing. And as they have grown nearer and nearer to the end of that walk, they have grown ever closer to God. That is truly a thing of beauty to see. This is what we call aged righteousness. An old, faithful child of God.
But there's another beautiful thing to consider. And that is young righteousness. This has a wonder and splendor all its own. Righteous living in youth is what we're going to talk about - young righteousness.
A Look at Young Righteousness
- Ecclesiastes 11:9-12:1
I think a lot of young people think maybe they're exempt because they're young, they're inexperienced. They think well, I can get by with things that later on I'm not going to be able to get by with. We're going to be called into judgment for the way we live, even as a young person.
In Ecclesiastes, Solomon writes on life, the brevity of it, the emptiness of it, if it is lived, and that's really the theme of Ecclesiastes, [as] a life lived without God. A life lived without spiritual consideration.
- Ecclesiastes 12:8
Everything that we do, no matter how important we may think it is, how great the world may think it is if it is not done to the glory of God, if it is not done in accordance with God's revealed will, then it's emptiness. It is nothing.
- Ecclesiastes 2:1-11
Do you ever try to catch the wind in your hand? [You] can't do it. [Have you ever tried to catch that Walmart receipt that's blowing across the parking lot? [You] can't do it. And so here in Ecclesiastes 11:9, still speaking of life, the time of one's youth, Solomon gives a very clear indication that the years of youth should be years of joy. Notice some points that we glean from this passage, that we are to rejoice in the years of our youth.
Ecclesiastes 11:9-12:1
- Rejoice in the years of youth.
- Have a cheerful heart.
- Recognize that you are accountable to God.
- Live the years of youth without guilt.
- Childhood and youth are brief.
- Now is the time to remember and serve God.
- Obey God as early in life as possible!
As you go through Ecclesiastes 12 you come to the process of dying.
- Ecclesiastes 12:9
Vanity of vanities saith the preacher, all is vanities. Again, that is the person who has never obeyed God, who has never put on Christ in baptism, the one who has never grown and remembered thy creator. He's going to return to the dust from whence he came, and it will all have been for nothing without serving God.
- 1 Timothy 4:12
“Let no man despise thy youth; but be thou an example of the believers, in word, in conversation, in charity, in spirit, in faith, in purity.” — 1 Timothy 4:12
This of course is written to Paul's son in the faith, still considered youthful, perhaps age 30. And, he says let no one despise thy youth.
- Matthew 5:13
Salt, as we talked about last week, is essential to our life. We can't live without it. The salt they had in those days, wasn't the pure salt we get today. It was not just salt, it had other things mixed with it. They couldn't separate and make iodized salt like we do today. And so, you might have some salt, it gets wet, the salt dissolves and goes away, and what you have left is just these other minerals that aren't really any good for anything. And so you throw them on the ground. They're good for killing weeds on the road. And so, they're thrown on the ground, they're trodden under the foot of men. It was this kind of stuff that the Romans put underneath their roadbeds as they were building it to keep anything from growing.
And so we're to be a positive example. We're to be an example of what a Christian should look like.
Be an Example in Thy Youth
- Example - Matthew 5:13-16, 2 Corinthians 3:2; 1 Timothy 4:16
- In Words - Matthew 12:34-35; Ephesians 4:29; Psalm 19:14
- In Deeds - “Let no man despise thy youth.”
- In Love - Matthew 22:36-39; Romans 13:10; John 13:34-35
- In Devotion - Luke 10:27
- In Faithfulness - James 2:18
- In Purity - 2 Timothy 2:21
The young as well as the old may be an example for good, and thereby an encouragement to the young and the old alike.
- 2 Timothy 2:20-22
And so, as we look here, he draws this picture.
- Purged – cleansed or purified from sinful things
- Sanctified – set apart for, and used by, God
- Meet – suited for the use of Christ, our Master
- Prepared – for the doing of every good work
- Righteousness – keeping the commandments of God
- Faith – devotion to God
- Charity – agape, (sacrificial love)
- Peace – Romans 14:19
“But thou, O man of God, flee these things; and follow after righteousness, godliness, faith, love, patience, meekness. Fight the good fight of faith, lay hold on eternal life, whereunto thou art also called, and hast professed a good profession before many witnesses.” — 1 Timothy 6:11-12
Be A Vessel of Honor!
We're to flee the things, like the love of money and things like that he talks about earlier in the chapter. And we're to follow after the Word. Follow means to pursue like you're pursuing a game, like you're trying to catch a wild animal; trying to catch it. You pursue it, you go after it. You don't stop until you achieve it. And so, we're following those things.
- 2 Timothy 2:20-22
We are to follow those things that help us to be pure. Every person then must determine the type of vessel he is going to be. We ought to determine that we're going to be a vessel of honor no matter what stage of life we're in. From henceforth, I will serve God in the best way that I can. We cannot serve God unless we are faithful Christians.
In order to become a Christian, we must hear and believe the word of God, repent of our sins, confess our belief, be baptized, wash away our sins, and live a life faithful to him. Today, if you are not a faithful Christian, we urge you to repent. We urge you to obey the gospel.
If we can assist you in learning how to become a vessel of honor for God, please contact us.
