Remember Now Thy Creator

Remember Now Thy Creator

Introduction ¾ Eccl. 11:9 – 12:7

A- These are such a powerful passages, hear them again Eccl 11:9-12:1

⁹Rejoice, O young man, in thy youth; and let thy heart cheer 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. ¹⁰Therefore remove sorrow from thy heart, and put away evil from thy flesh: for childhood and youth are vanity. ¹Remember 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;

1- Thus the preacher would have us to rejoice in our youth, enjoy your days of youth, but know says he ¾ God will bring thee into judgment what wonderful advice. Young people I commend these verses to you, memorize them and meditate upon them when lie down at night and when you arise in the morning.

B- The preacher would have you know also young folks ¾

1- That righteousness does not necessarily come with age. Many of us have the mistaken idea, that the older one gets, the more religious he becomes. Godly living is not really for the young. Why! Don't you know that is a time for "sowing wild oats"

2- When we get older we can pray that we might have a crop failure. Then we want have to reap the things thus sowed. Beloved I think this is one of the most serious principles with which we have to deal. Galatians 6:7

⁷Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap There is no way of escaping this harvest, It is inevitable, it is ¾ inescapable. I don't think any other principle in the Bible should be more seriously considered, in the ordering and planning of our lives than this. "They that sow the wind, shall reap the whirlwind." Hosea 8:7 NOT MUCH INHERITANCE IS IT?

I- There are some important things that our text suggest some for us to consider.

¹Remember now thy Creator in the days of thy youth,

A- That our lives really do have a purpose.

1- What is life all about? What is my purpose in life anyway?

2- But it suggest further that one CAN KNOW our Creator while young, which means that you are accountable to Him at the end of your life even while we are young. But the text also suggest ¾ that it is possible to forget God in our youth.

B- Remember now thy Creator in the days of thy youth,¾

1- Why in the days of youth are we to remember our Creator? Why is this so important? Consider young folks the wisdom of this exhortation that Solomon gives to you. Many have the mistaken idea "remembering God" Is just something that we do to prepare to die. But allow me to impress upon you this "few if any live without God, and then die with Him." In other words, if you want to die a child of God, we must live that way.

2- There was an old gentleman in Tennessee a number of years ago who was in his 80's. Although he attended church with his wife regularly,he never became a Christian. One morning at 1 am in the morning, he called the preacher, and desired to be baptized.The preacher was elated, and stated he would be over the first thing after daylight. They would be going to the creek for the baptismal service.

3- But the old man insisted ¾ "no I want to be baptized now." The preacher stated "it is after 1 in the morning, and you have put this thing off for more than 65 years, a few hours won't matter." But again the old man insisted, and so within the hour he was baptized into Christ for he remission of his sins, having confessed the sweet name of Jesus. That morning at 6am the old man died.

That is cutting life very close isn't it.

C- Who among us would take such a chance on receiving an inheritance?

1- Suppose someone died, leaving you $1,000,000 dollars. The will had conditions and they must be met before you could receive any of the money . The conditions were very reasonable, and really designed for your own good. You must meet them, but strange thing ¾ the will stated there was a deadline, but failed to tell you whether is was tomorrow or 10 years from now, you don't know.

2- What is our attitude going to be? How may would put off the doing of the conditions which would allow us to inherit the money? I'm thinking that we would begin immediately to fulfill every condition and be ready. We would not wait would we.

3- How foolish we are to take chance with the most precious thing we have our eternal soul. Jesus gave us the story of a rich man who lived for this life only, He had made much preparation to live but none to die, Hear it¾

Luke 12:16-20

¹⁶And he spake a parable unto them, saying, The ground of a certain rich man brought forth plentifully: ¹⁷And he thought within himself, saying, What shall I do, because I have no room where to bestow my fruits? ¹⁸And he said, This will I do: I will pull down my barns, and build greater; and there will I bestow all my fruits and my goods. ¹⁹And I will say to my soul, Soul, thou hast much goods laid up for many years; take thine ease, eat, drink, and be merry. ²⁰But God said unto him, Thou fool, this night thy soul shall be required of thee: then whose shall those things be, which thou hast provided? ²¹So is he that layeth up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God.

4- And on another occasion Jesus asked this question ¾

Matt 16:26

²⁶For what is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?

III- But again, I would suggest that we ought to give God our very best.

A- Sometimes we adults are not very good examples

1- We come to worship on Sunday not really prepared to worship. Oh! We go through the motions of worship, never really giving God genuine service. But God is not mocked, when we fail to give Him our very best devotions. Will God accept this kind of service?.

2- The young feel that they have many useful years ahead, unlike the eighty year old man who obeyed the gospel and was dead in hours, I have plenty of years ahead…. I'll wait and become a Christian later in life. Young people, have you ever thought, who wants to give God a useless worn out body that has been wasted on selfishness?

3- Would you buy a costly gift for a girl friend, or boy friend, keep it till it was old and un- attractive then give it to them? Why I think they might give it back. Why then should we want to give that which is left over of our lives to God.?

4- In Mal. 1:6-8 God rebuked the priest for this very thing

⁶A son honoreth his father, and a servant his master: if then I be a father, where is mine honor? and if I be a master, where is my fear? saith the LORD of hosts unto you, O priests, that despise my name. And ye say, Wherein have we despised thy name? ⁷Ye offer polluted bread upon mine altar; and ye say, Wherein have we polluted thee? In that ye say, The table of the LORD is contemptible. ⁸And if ye offer the blind for sacrifice, is it not evil? and if ye offer the lame and sick, is it not evil? offer it now unto thy governor; will he be pleased with thee, or accept thy person? saith the LORD of hosts.

B-< On one occasion King David wanted to buy a piece of property where he could erect an altar to God and worship.

1- The owner of the property wanted to give the land to David, but David responded by saying 2 Sam 24:24

²⁴ Nay; but I will surely buy it of thee at a price: neither will I offer burnt offerings unto the LORD my God of that which doth cost me nothing.

2- When we wait to give until we have nothing to give, then we give that which costs us nothing. Do we sacrifice for the Lord, or just give Him that which means little to us? A sign on a Church Marquee read ¾ “Is Christ Lord of Your Life Or Just One Of Your Interest?”

IV- Again our young years is our formative period, where life-time habits are formed.

A- Habits that we form in youth can cause trouble even into a marriage 20 years later.

1- The truth is, we cannot practice one thing and learn and be another. Who could practice tennis and become a golf star? What we spend our days practicing, that will become. Young folks, you cannot live worldly and learn how to be godly. Young friends, it is so much easier to form good habits while we are young, than to struggle to change our bodies as we get older and decide to serve God.

2- We form friendships while we are young, these are precious. I remember some of these from even grade school. But those friends that would turn us from serving God, are extremely dangerous to our souls. God has warned us 1 Cor 15:33

³³Be not deceived evil communications corrupt good manners. ³⁴Awake to righteousness, and sin not . This warning suggests that there is a real possibility of being deceived by our friends. Bad relationships are like quick sand, the longer we stay in them, the harder it is to get out.

B- And then often we form our marriages while we are young, we select a mate for life.

1- We need wisdom , maturity and spiritual discernment in making this greatest decision in respect to human relation-ships. Young folks, please don't be afraid to talk to your parents about matters as this. How many marriages have become "living hells" because they were made solely on worldly considerations. Young women, if all he has to offer is a good set of muscles and a flashy car, they will be gone one day. Young men, if all she has to offer is the way she looks good in her clothes, one day she won't look that way.

2- Have you ever noticed how we tend to marry the same people we date? Somehow it just seems to work out that way. Ever hear a young girl say, "Oh, I wouldn't marry him if he were the last man on earth, He's just fun to date." Some say that love is blind. To that I agree, but I go further, Love is sometimes deaf - dumb and blind. There are many in the church today who live in marriage problems, There are many who will be lost eternally, because of the choice they made as a partner for life in marriage.

3- You need to pick someone who will help you go to heaven. Not one who would hinder. Famous last words "Oh, He said he would go to church with me after we are married. " Don't believe a word of it.

4-< A word to those who have not as yet entered into a marriage relationship Most likely no person on earth will add or detract as much to our happiness or from our unhappiness as the person we choose to marry and spend our life with…. No person will have more bearing on whether or not we go to heaven or hell when we die as the person we marry.

V- There may be some debate as to when our happiest years are

A- Immediately our thoughts return to youth

1-.. All of us want to be young and happy. We get facelifts and wear youthful clothes. But listen to the happy person as described by inspiration. Psalms 1

¹Blessed [happy] is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful. ²But his delight is in the law of the LORD; and in his law doth he meditate day and night. ³And he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that bringeth forth his fruit in his season; his leaf also shall not wither; and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper. ⁴The ungodly are not so: but are like the chaff which the wind driveth away. ⁵Therefore the ungodly shall not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous. ⁶For the LORD knoweth the way of the righteous: but the way of the ungodly shall perish.

B- Youth is a time for rejoicing, and the Lord wants us to be happy,

1- But he wants us to be happy in the right things. You remember the wise counsel of the preacher from our text. Eccl 11:9-12:1

C- I don't like to frighten with tales of death and woe, but facts are facts.

2- On an other occasion I received a call, a young man had been killed in a car accident, the brakes on his car had failed. He had gone through a stop sign and now he was dead. He was only 16 years old, not a bad boy. But he was not a Christian, He had intended to obey the gospel, just waited to late.

D- You see, young people none of us have guarantees for life only death.

1- We read this most truthful statement from the word of God Heb 9:27

²⁷And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment:

VI- Conclusion John 3:16 we read ¾

For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish but should have eternal life.

A- Another story and the lesson is yours¾

1- The story is told of an old gentleman, who was a bridge keeper for a drawbridge. Trains passed over the bridge, and underneath ships passed on a river. At certain times of the day the bridge was raised for the ships that sailed by, at certain times trains would pass above on the tracks, so the drawbridge had to be lowered.

This bridge keeper had a young son, who often came to watch his father work. He loved to watch the bridge as it was raised and lowered to allow passage. On this particular day, the bridge had been raised to allow a ship to pass underneath, and He was about to lower the bridge because it was time for the train that daily came at this time, when he heard his young son who had be investigating the equipment cry out.

Looking through a window to below he saw his son had been caught in the great gear that turn. If he lower the bridge now the son would be crushed. Just then he heard the train coming. A decision had to be made ¾ There was not time to both free his son and lower the bridge, He stood there for what seemed eternity, and with tears in his eyes, he lowered the bridge, killing the boy, The train sped by swiftly and the people were unaware of the great sacrifice that had been made for their safety.

B- But you and I know of the great sacrifice that was made for us.

1- God gave His only Son to die a horrible death, just because He loved us so. Do you care that Christ died for you? This message was designed for our young people primarily but notice the application for all.

¹Remember now thy Creator and know thou, that for all these things God will bring thee into judgment

2- Here then is the message for all of us, "Remember Now! " For those of us who are not so young… we have made a vow to our God.. We became a Christian. Are we giving God our best Are we living true to our vow?

¹Remember now thy Creator and know thou, that for all these things God will bring thee into judgment

3- It may be that you are young, in all likely hood you have many good years ahead of you, they are your strong years. ¹Remember now thy Creator and know thou, that for all these things God will bring thee into judgment

4- The message of the Bible is Remember Now! Today is the day of salvation… This day… today is the only day we have a promise of … Would you render obedience to God TODAY?