George Müller gave this sermon at Bethesda Chapel, Great George Street, Bristol, England, on Sunday, October 12, 1873. He was asked to specifically address the young men in attendance.
Rejoice, O young man, in your youth, and let your heart cheer you in the days of your youth; walk in the ways of your heart and in the sight of your eyes; but know that for all these God will bring you into judgment. Therefore remove sorrow from your heart, and put away evil from your flesh, for childhood and youth are vanity. (Ecclesiastes 11:9-11, NKJV)
Remember now your Creator in the days of your youth, before the difficult days come and the years draw near when you say, “I have no pleasure in them.” (Ecclesiastes 12:1, NKJV)
I was asked to preach to young men, to the dear young men, here this evening; and as I myself have been a young man, I know what it is to be a young man out of Christ and a young man in Christ, a believer in the Lord Jesus, so I cheerfully complied with the request.
I was twenty years old before I was converted, so, once again, I know from experience what it is to be a young man out of Christ, especially when it is considered that, though I was only twenty, I had the experience of one who was thirty or thirty-five years old. I had been, from ten years old, my own master, so to speak, and had seen much, very much, of life by the time I was twenty. Yet, as I was only a young man when converted, I also know from experience what it is to be a young man as a believer in the Lord Jesus, and gladly, therefore, do I comply with the request to preach to you, my dear young friends, the dear young men. But while the subject we lay before you this evening is of importance to young men, it is also important to all of us: to young men and young women, to middle-aged men and middle-aged women, to elderly men and elderly women—for the truth as it is in Jesus must always be important to every human being.
The Scripture I have read is one that, more especially by the Holy Spirit, concerns young men; and of all the portions in the Word of God, I know none more suitable than the one that I have been reading for this occasion. We will now read again, little by little, this portion, and we will meditate upon it, with God’s help.
“Rejoice, O young man, in your youth, and let your heart cheer you in the days of your youth; walk in the ways of your heart and in the sight of your eyes.” The first thing we need to understand regarding this statement is that it’s not condoned by the Holy Spirit, encouraging people, whether young men or young women or any human beings, to live according to their pleasures. I have never for a moment thought this. The statement is precisely of the same character as we find at the very close of the blessed book of God, in the last chapter of Revelation:
“He who is unjust, let him be unjust still; he who is filthy, let him be filthy still; he who is righteous, let him be righteous still; he who is holy, let him be holy still. And behold, I am coming quickly, and My reward is with Me, to give to everyone according to his work.” (Revelation 22:11-12, NKJV)
Those two verses are to be taken in connection, just as the first part of Ecclesiastes 11:9 is to be taken in connection with the latter part of the same verse. The Holy Spirit is stating here what is known about young men—the natural liking of the natural heart of young men is to please themselves; to go their own way; to gratify themselves; to walk according to the sight of their own eyes. The statement is not the Holy Spirit encouraging young men to do those things. Even less so is He condoning it, as if there were no consequences or harm! The Scripture is simply stating the facts: this is the natural tendency of men, particularly that of young men.
It is the same with all of us; the same, not only with young men and young women, but also with middle-aged men and middle-aged women, and with elderly men and elderly women. We like to go our own way, to please ourselves, to gratify ourselves, to act according to the bidding of nature. This is the statement of the Holy Spirit, just as we find it in the last chapter of Revelation, but with this solemn, weighty, momentous addition: “Behold, I am coming quickly, and My reward is with Me,” and here the Holy Spirit adds, "But know that for all these God will bring you into judgment.”
“Rejoice, O young man, in your youth, and let your heart cheer you in the days of your youth; walk in the ways of your heart and in the sight of your eyes.”
Now, the very reverse of all this is what the Holy Spirit would tell them should be the case. In the first place, "Rejoice, O young man, in your youth.” Are we to rejoice in our youth? The statement of the Holy Spirit, again and again and again, is, “Rejoice in the Lord” (see Philippians 4:4). Our strength is to be happy in the Lord. This we are commanded; this is the will of the Lord concerning us: to rejoice in the Lord, not in our youth.
It goes on: “Let your heart cheer you in the days of your youth.” Our own hearts cheer us? The consolations of the blessed gospel are to cheer us, not our hearts! He who trusts in his own heart and looks into his own heart to find there a fountain of happiness is a fool. Therefore, this cannot possibly be the meaning! Again, it is simply the statement of the Holy Spirit about how it is among men, what the tendency is among men, and how it is found to be among men. So, then, it does not at all mean that we should find our happiness in the fact that we are young.
“Walk in the ways of your heart.” What is this “encouragement”? Can it be so? To walk in the ways of our own hearts would be to walk in the way of sinners! We are naturally far from God; we naturally do things that are hateful to God, that are anything but pleasing to Him. What is commanded to mankind is to walk in the ways of the Lord. The verse cannot possibly mean that walking according to our hearts pleases God or is His will. It simply states what the tendency of youth is: to walk in their own ways, not liking to be directed by God’s will or ways.
“In the sight of your eyes.” This we like naturally, but that which is repeated in the Holy Scripture is this: to walk in the sight of God, to walk according to the mind of God, to walk in the light of God's countenance, and to walk so that we do not go out of the sight of God. This is the Lord’s will for us. And, therefore, in the first place, this is to be settled in our own hearts: that here is the statement of the Holy Spirit, not by way of commendation—the very reverse—only the simple statement of the Holy Spirit as to what is common among men, what is the result of our fallen state. If we are not in Christ, we rejoice in things that are according to nature instead of rejoicing in things that are according to the mind of God.
But it is the latter, and the latter only, that brings real, true joy, peace, and happiness to us; the former never did, never will, never can. It is not to be found in what the world offers, not even in our closest relationships or in any measure of human success or progress; it is not possible to find real joy or real happiness in any of these things, but only in communion with God, in unity with Him. By God’s grace and through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, can we find peace and happiness. This is not an assumption of mine, but it is the mind of God. We at once find from the second part of the verse where this is stated: "For all these God will bring you into judgment.” If the Holy Spirit truly encouraged a young man to take pride in his youth… if a young man was to find joy for his heart in this… if a young man was to walk according to his heart’s desires and by what he says… then why this added warning? Why this contrast?
It’s the complete opposite of these that the Holy Spirit means us to do; for, as I said before, He would have us rejoice in the Lord… He would have us find joy in the good news of the gospel… He would have us walk in the ways of God… and He would have us walk in the light of the countenance of God! This is according to the mind of God, not the other. If, however, young men are determined to go their own way, then let them hear the word of the Lord:
“But know that for all these God will bring you into judgment.”
What then if we are brought into judgment? If all our sins are brought before God, and sentence is passed according to our actions; if all our words, the tens upon tens of thousands, and the hundreds upon hundreds of thousands of words we utter, from the moment we came into this world to the moment we are taken out of it; and if all the thoughts and desires, the inclinations and purposes, which have been found in our hearts are tested by the scrutinizing eye of God and weighed in His balance… what will be the end of this? What can be the end of this but to hear those awful words, “Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels” (Matthew 25:41, NIV). Oh! What would befall us if we were at once to be dealt with according to our deeds, our words and our thoughts?
We would be undone, and undone for eternity; and therefore, the solemn and momentous point about this latter part of the verse is not only what it says to us of the meaning—which shows the first part cannot possibly mean what it seems but also that it powerfully urges us to act. In it, God Himself pleads with us—with the greatest urgency, diligence, and haste—to come to Christ, to receive the gospel, to believe in the Lord Jesus Christ for the salvation of our souls, so that we may not have to stand at the judgment seat of Christ and hear those awful words, “Away from Me!” There is no possibility of escaping punishment and hell except by believing the gospel.
There is also no possibility of having eternal joy and happiness except through faith in the atoning death of the Lord Jesus Christ; and if there had been a possibility of anyone being saved in any other way, God would not have delivered up the choicest, the most precious of all gifts He had to give: His only begotten Son. But when He saw that we were lost and broken, His heart was filled with yearning love, filled with compassion for the lost and ruined and guilty. In the riches of His grace, He gave for them the best gift He had to give, His only begotten Son, and bruised Him and wounded Him and laid on Him the punishment of us all; and that blessed One endured all the punishment that was due to those who put their trust in Him.
Before we move on, let me ask you—especially you young men I’m speaking to tonight—how are things with you spiritually? Have you responded to Christ or not? Have you accepted the good news of the gospel or not? Are you in Christ, or are you still apart from Him? I understand what you might be feeling, and I can empathize with whatever state you are in. I was without Christ for many years, and oh, thousands of times I have wished I had known the Lord at a much younger age! There was, however, this difference between us: I hadn’t heard the gospel until I was twenty years old; I had never met with a Christian up to that point. I never understood the atoning death of the Lord Jesus until then!
You, at least almost all of you, if not every one of you, have heard the gospel again and again; some of you, it may be, times without number. You have been instructed and told, most of you, if not all of you, many times to believe the gospel; therefore, see the difference. Now, be instructed and told at last! Oh, let me admonish you! Give your heart without delay to the Lord. And if you’re looking for yet another testimony—though I’m sure you’ve already heard plenty—let me tell you this: it’s a mistake to think that believing the gospel while you’re young will ruin your chances of happiness. It’s a serious mistake to believe this! The truth is the exact opposite. It’s receiving Jesus Christ that gives real joy, real happiness, real gladness of heart. The other is a mere fancy, a dreamlike joy; there is no reality in it; it brings nothing but an aching heart afterwards, whatever the apparent joy for the time may be. I know from my own experience what it is to seek to enjoy the world with all you have, for I did it to the utmost, and I had more opportunity than many to do it; it was nothing but vanity and misery and wretchedness.
But I know what it is to be a Christian as a young man. As I told you, I was about twenty years old when I was brought to the knowledge of Christ; and then, having found Him, I was happy, and before that very first evening had ended, I said to my former travelling companions, “What are all our joys and all our pleasures on the journey to Switzerland in comparison with this evening?” That was the very beginning of my divine life! And now forty-eight years have passed, and I bear testimony, to the praise and honor and glory of God, that I have never been tired of Christ. Actually, the longer I walk on in the ways of God, the more I find how true the Word of the Lord is, that the paths of wisdom are paths of pleasantness and peace; that real joy, real happiness, real blessing, real peace, real comfort and reality are to be had by faith in the Lord Jesus.
I make only this addition: You must be an all-in Christian. You can’t hold the world with one hand and Christ with the other. Otherwise, you would be a wretched being; and if there are any here present who want the world and Christ, let them keep the world, for they cannot have both. You can have nothing but destruction if you love the world, because it is under condemnation, and you will be condemned with the world if you don’t let the world go. But if you are determined to let the world go, cling to Christ, and be a wholehearted disciple of the Lord Jesus, I tell you this, as an honest man, you will be happy. Oh! How happy, how unspeakably happy, how blessed your portion as a servant of the Lord Jesus Christ. Oh! It is a blessed thing to be a disciple of the Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore, dear young men, don’t believe the lie of the devil any longer. And to you young women, I say the same! And to you older men and women, I say the same! To everyone here present, and even to the little boys and girls, I say the same! If ever there comes a whisper to your mind from the devil that all joy and happiness would be gone if you were to become a Christian, know that the complete opposite is true!
Real joy, real happiness, real blessing only begin the day that we receive spiritual life through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. For then are our sins forgiven; then comes the time when we become the children of God through this faith in the Lord Jesus; then comes the time when we become the heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ through this faith in the Lord Jesus Christ; then comes the time, and only then, that you can lie down in peace at night, knowing that, if you should not awaken any more in this world, you would not lift your eyes in torment, but in heaven. I challenge anyone here to prove to me that there’s something else that can make them as happy as this: to know that if this were your last night, how do you know if you would wake up in heaven and not in torment? Oh, what could be more worthwhile than this? How blessed is this one single thing! What can all the world give in comparison with this one single thing: to know that, if this were your last night, heaven would be your portion! Is it not worthwhile to think about this?
You speak about the happiness at the billiard table: I know it, and it is worthless—nothing else. You speak about the enjoyment of entertainment: I know it more than many of you, if not all of you; I sought it times without number and was passionately fond of entertainment. What then? Wretchedness and misery were the result. You speak about the ballroom: there was I; there was I, and at two or three o'clock in the morning, I left the ballroom wanting more. I know it all, and the wretchedness and misery that comes with it, instead of real enjoyment and real happiness. You speak about the pleasures of reading: I know that too; for when I was only thirteen years old, I had my books by the month out of the library, and I devoured them with all eagerness, volume after volume. And you speak about learning and the enjoyment in it: I was at school from the time I was five years old to the time that I was nineteen and a half, when I went to the university with honorable mentions and was there for four years; and then studying was not over, for when I came to England, I went on with Hebrew, Aramaic, etc. And what did I find? That learning in itself gives no happiness, no real, true happiness.
Christ, and Christ alone, gives real, true happiness. I know seven languages, and with all this, I would have been destined to hell if it had not received Christ, Christ, Christ! Oh, the blessedness of being a disciple of the Lord Jesus! Oh, my dear young friends, young man or young woman, little children or old, let me tell you of the blessedness, the blessedness, THE BLESSEDNESS of being a believer in the Lord Jesus Christ. Be a wholehearted Christian!
It is this half-hearted mind that makes men lack real happiness. You cannot be happy if you want to hold the world with one hand and Christ with the other. But the moment you come to the determination that you will not falter between two opinions and that you will be an all-in Christian, you will be happy. I know the difficulty of this. After I became a Christian, I was almost the only believer out of 1260 young men who were students at the university. And they had known me before then—that I had been in the fencing club to learn fencing so that I might be able to fight a duel if anyone insulted me. Afterwards, they would sneer, "There goes the Mystic," as I was called, and they pointed fingers at me. But those comments lasted a few days or a few weeks at the most, and, by the grace of God, I stood at the side of Christ with two or three other students of the 1260 there, and the result was that I was a happy man. And a happy man I have been since! But it must be an all-in thing.
Therefore, I say affectionately to those who are not yet following Christ: Be upright and honest. You who are believers in the Lord Jesus, I affectionately say this: Be fully committed, standing at the side of Christ. Don’t be half-hearted. The devil will seek, if he cannot bring you back to him to at least, in some degree, bring you back to the world. Let me affectionately persuade you to live a wholehearted Christianity, and then the result will be this: You will be truly happy. Thus it should be with all the disciples of the Lord Jesus. It would deeply sadden me if someone lived in my home for a whole month and couldn’t honestly say, “Mr. Müller is a happy man.” Because I truly want to be happy—and by God’s grace, I am. It’s Christ who makes me happy. There’s something indescribably wonderful about this: the older I get and the closer I come to the end of my journey, the brighter and more hopeful the future becomes. Heaven is my home, and I’m drawing nearer and nearer to its gates.
Oh, how blessed it is to belong to Christ. And this happiness is what I long for each of you to experience as well, my dear young friends. There is nothing more blessed than being a believer in the Lord Jesus. “But know that for all these God will bring you into judgment. Therefore remove sorrow from your heart, and put away evil from your flesh, for childhood and youth are vanity.” If we act according to the statement of the first part of the verse, the result will be sorrow to the soul and affliction to the body. I might mention here, by the way, that “flesh” is to be here understood as “the body.” It does not mean the old and corrupt nature; it means the body. If we walk according to the ways of our own heart, according to the sight of our own eyes, it is certain that there will come, sooner or later, sorrow to the heart, and that there will come evil, even to the body, as the end result.
The will of God is that young men should remove sorrow from their hearts and put away evil from their bodies; but if young men walk according to their natural inclinations, it will bring and it must bring sorrow. Oh, how much sorrow! If any dear young men follow out their own desires, sorrow upon sorrow it will bring, not only as to the heart but also as to the body in most instances; yet not only to the body, evil, but oftentimes premature death. Oh! How often is it seen that not only disease of the body, but even a premature death comes from walking according to the natural inclination and the carnal mind? So, then, if you wish to keep sorrow away from your heart, if you wish to keep evil from the body, then walk according to the Lord’s will and ways, which begins, in the first place, by receiving the gospel, by receiving Christ, and then, afterwards, by continuing in Christ. Abide in Christ, seek to please the Lord, to act according to His will! It is by this, and by this only, that sorrow can be kept from the heart and that evil can be kept from the body.
Oh, how necessary it is to pay attention to these things! And we see it is just the graciousness of the heart of God that brings before us this help because the Lord wills the sinner to turn from his evil ways to find life. And this is not all! If young men are believers, God desires them to be happy believers, truly happy. This, however, cannot be done except by abiding in Christ. This is the only way sorrow can be removed from the heart and evil can be kept from the body. Awful diseases many dear young men bring on themselves, and even premature death, because they neglect these things. And then it goes on to say this: "For childhood and youth are vanity.” The word “youth" in Hebrew means “the beginning of the day," “the breaking of the day," and therefore, this is the imagery being carried out. "Childhood and the morning of life are vanity.” Vanity here means, “of a transient character, it passes, it does not last long, it goes away.”
Something important to be reminded of is that youth is transient; it passes away. Therefore, in childhood and youth, the best use is to be made of time, talents and strength. The cultivation of the mind is very important. Don’t think for a moment that what I said earlier is that it’s NOT important or worthwhile! I do not want what I am saying to be misunderstood. I simply mean that these things are nothing in comparison with the choicest and the chiefest of all the good that we can have: faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. It is important for believers to spend their time well in this life, because childhood and youth are transient—they pass away; therefore, the mind should be cultivated.
Things that are profitable for this life are to be learned, among many reasons, so that they may be useful in the cause of Christ. Earlier, I referred to the languages I know. When I learned French, for example, I had no thought that they would ever be useful in the service to Christ, but afterwards it pleased God for me to use this skill! It was His sovereign hand that I had sometimes six missionaries visiting my home for up to six months, and there were three different languages spoken during those months—German, French and English. Because of this, I am now continuing to use these languages. They have, in the cause of Christ, been very useful. Not that I mean to lay stress on these things, as if they were of such importance that there would be no progression in God’s work without me knowing them. Not at all. After all, the main idea is for a disciple of Jesus to walk in the ways of God. But if we have the opportunity to use our skills to advance His kingdom, let us make good use of it.
We must not despise these opportunities by setting them aside, but instead make good use of them; youth doesn’t last, so grow your mind and gain understanding of life’s matters—knowledge that can later be used not only for everyday living, but also in serving the Lord and bringing glory to God. Although it is important in the things of this life, it is of infinitely more importance in eternal matters. Therefore, the takeaway is that, while yet young, we should give our hearts to the Lord. Don’t put it off for another time! Suppose that time never came? And even if the time came, the heart naturally gets harder and harder, so postponing only brings loss. The cares of this life come after a while, and then we are less inclined to give our hearts to the Lord. Therefore, our greatest aim, both as to this life and especially concerning the life to come, should be to make the best use of childhood and youth before they disappear.
Before moving on to the last verse, I want to ask the question, “How many of you have given your heart to the Lord?” I see many dear young persons before me, both male and female. How many have given their hearts to the Lord? I see also a few children—have they given their hearts to the Lord? I do not want you to answer the question to me, but I urge you, in sincerity, in uprightness, with godly earnestness, to answer the question to God Himself, who, by His Spirit, says to your heart: “Are you Mine, or are you the devil’s? Are you for Christ, or the world?” Why waver in your decision?
Youth and childhood are passing away; you put it off, thinking there is time enough. But how do you know if there is enough? What if, when you get home this evening, you become sick without cure? What then? What then? What then? It's all too late. Oh, receive this exhortation, dear young friends! The more you hear of the gospel, and the more you reject its invitation, the harder your heart becomes; the further you get away from Christ, the more you are getting into the ways of the devil and the more you love the world. Oh, be moved into action!
Now we look at the last verse:
“Remember now your Creator in the days of your youth, before the difficult days come and the years draw near when you say, ‘I have no pleasure in them.’”
What’s so important about this? Well, first, I firmly believe that what the Holy Spirit would have us do is this: We, especially when young, should take it to heart, solemnly, deeply, gravely, earnestly, that we have a Creator. Now, everyone in this country knows that they are created. But the mere superficial knowledge is not enough; it is of little significance in comparison with reality. What the Holy Spirit wants us to know is that we are creatures—and that we have a Creator! The verse implies several things. First, it implies that the creature is subject to the Creator. We can’t remember this enough! It implies further that the creature is made for the honor and glory of the Creator. Oh, we can’t remember this enough. It implies even further that because the creature is made for the honor and glory of the Creator, the creature should live so that the honor of the Creator would be upheld. In what way can mankind, above all things, honor the Creator? By accepting the choicest of all His gifts, the Lord Jesus Christ. Whoever does not accept Christ cannot honor the Creator.
You may think this is a hard saying! And it may be. But I repeat solemnly: Everyone here present who has not accepted Christ, whether fifteen years old, or twenty years, or twenty-five years old, never once, in his whole life, has honored the Creator. There is no possible way we honor the Creator while the choicest gift, the most precious gift, this unspeakable gift, which cost Him so much—His only begotten Son—is not accepted. Go home and consider, no matter your age, that if you’ve never accepted Christ, then not even for a single minute in your whole life have you truly honored God. This is no hasty statement. It is my deliberate conviction! As a man of God, I give it as my deliberate conviction. All you have done, all you have said, never can and never will honor God as long as you have not received the gospel.
Therefore, the first thing, if you would honor God the Creator, if you would realize what is meant by "remembering" Him, you must choose Christ; you must accept the gospel; you must pass sentence upon yourself as a ruined, guilty, lost sinner, and then believe in the Lord Jesus Christ for the salvation of your soul. You must put your whole trust in and choose only to trust the atoning death of the Lord Jesus Christ. This, and this only, would God consider as remembering Him. But if you have received the gospel, then choose to abide in Christ. Seek to please Jehovah Jesus, who is the Word; everything that is in existence is because of Him! He is the builder of the universe. Abide in Him; seek to please Him; seek to act according to His will. This, in His eyes, is the highest and most precious way of remembering your Creator.
And finally:
"Before the difficult days come and the years draw near when you say, 'I have no pleasure in them.’”
This is the very reverse of what a young man naturally says: "I am very young; I have time; I’ll consider these things when I am older.” That is completely the opposite of what the Lord says! “Before the difficult days come." This is the will of the Lord!
When men get older, the danger of forgetting these things comes. Because the heart has become hardened, because the cares of this life shut out Christ, because of numberless troubles, because of having a family; therefore, this, the most important thing in your life, is not to be put off. Oh! How wise! How infinitely wise is God. But the devil, you see, is always against God; he is always shedding a different light on things. God says, "Before these days come.” Nature says, “I will put it off till I am old.” The devil whispers, "There is so much time before you die.” How do you know that? The next time you travel—crash! And in an instant, you are carried away in a railway accident; the next time you ride in a carriage, off the horse goes! And in an instant, you are thrown into eternity; the next time you go out, a tile falls on your head from the roof, and in an instant, you are in eternity.
Oh! How do you know that you will live one single day more? How utterly foolish it is to put it off to old age, to this or that time! The present moment, and only this present moment, is the only time, and therefore the present moment alone is ours; we cannot boast that we have time.
Once more, beloved young friends, whether young or old, let me inspire you, with all earnestness, to seek the Lord while He can be found, and to call upon Him while He is near! And be assured of this: if you take even one step toward Him, then Jesus will come a dozen, even a hundred steps toward you. It’s as if He stands with open arms, ready to receive you. Welcoming you is the joy and delight of His heart. So don’t delay! I plead with you—come to Him.
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George Müller
