Sermon Tone Analysis

; —A NEW YEARS SERMON TO THE YOUNG

'Rejoice, 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.... 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.'—; .

This strange, and in some places perplexing Book of Ecclesiastes, is intended to be the picture of a man fighting his way through perplexities and half-truths to a clear conviction in which he can rest.

What he says in his process of coming to that conviction is not always to be taken as true.

Much that is spoken in the earlier portion of the Book is spoken in order to be confuted, and its insufficiency, its exaggerations, its onesidedness, and its half-truths, to be manifest in the light of the ultimate conclusion to which he comes.

Through all these perplexities he goes on 'sounding his dim and perilous way,' with pitfalls on this side of him and bogs on that, till he comes out at last upon the open way, with firm ground under foot and a clear sky overhead.

These phrases which I have taken are the opening sentences and the final conclusion on which he rests.

How then are they meant to be understood?

Is that saying, 'Rejoice, O young man! in the days of 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,' to be taken as a bit of fierce irony?

Is this a man taking the maxims of the foolish world about him and seeming to approve of them in order that he may face round at the end with a quick turn and a cynical face and hand them back their maxims along with that which will shatter them to pieces—as if he said, 'Oh, yes! go on, talk your fill about making the best of this world, and rejoicing and doing as you like, dancing on the edge of a precipice, and fiddling, like Nero, whilst a worse fire than that of Rome is burning'?

Well, I do not think that is the meaning of it.

Though there is irony to be found in the Bible, I do not think that fierce irony like that which might do for the like of Dean Swift, is the intention of the Preacher.

So I take these words to be said in good faith, as a frank recognition of the fact that, after all we have been hearing about vanity and vexation of spirit, life is worth living for, and that God means young people to be glad and to make the best of the fleeting years that will never come back with the same buoyancy and elasticity all their lives long.

And then I take it that the words added are not meant to destroy or neutralise the concession of the first sentence, but only to purify and ennoble a gladness which, without them, would be apt to be stained by many a corruption, and to make permanent a joy which, without them, would be sure to die down into the miserable, peevish, and feeble old age of which the grim picture follows, and to be quenched at last in death.

So there are three words that I take out of this text of mine, and that I want to bring before my young friends as exhortations which it is wise to follow.

These are Rejoice, Reflect, Remember.

Rejoice—the fitting gladness of youth; reflect —the solemn thought that will guard the gladness from stain; remember—the religion which will make these things ever last.

thy youth, and walk in the ways of thine heart and in the sight of thine eyes,' to be taken as a bit of fierce irony?

Is this a man taking the maxims of the foolish world about him and seeming to approve of them in order that he may face round at the end with a quick turn and a cynical face and hand them back their maxims along with that which will shatter them to pieces—as if he said, 'Oh, yes! go on, talk your fill about making the best of this world, and rejoicing and doing as you like, dancing on the edge of a precipice, and fiddling, like Nero, whilst a worse fire than that of Rome is burning'?

Well, I do not think that is the meaning of it.

Though there is irony to be found in the Bible, I do not think that fierce irony like that which might do for the like of Dean Swift, is the intention of the Preacher.

So I take these words to be said in good faith, as a frank recognition of the fact that, after all we have been hearing about vanity and vexation of spirit, life is worth living for, and that God means young people to be glad and to make the best of the fleeting years that will never come back with the same buoyancy and elasticity all their lives long.

And then I take it that the words added are not meant to destroy or neutralise the concession of the first sentence, but only to purify and ennoble a gladness which, without them, would be apt to be stained by many a corruption, and to make permanent a joy which, without them, would be sure to die down into the miserable, peevish, and feeble old age of which the grim picture follows, and to be quenched at last in death.

So there are three words that I take out of this text of mine, and that I want to bring before my young friends as exhortations which it is wise to follow.

These are Rejoice, Reflect, Remember.

Rejoice—the fitting gladness of youth; reflect —the solemn thought that will guard the gladness from stain; remember—the religion which will make these things ever last.

First of all 'Rejoice.'

Do as you like, for that is the English translation of the words, 'Walk in the ways of thine heart and in the sight of thine eyes.' Buoyantly and cheerfully follow the inclinations and the desires which are stamped upon your nature and belong to your time of life.

All young things are joyful, from the lamb in the

pastures upwards, and are meant to be so.

The mere bounding sense of physical strength which leads so many of you young men astray is a good thing and a blessed thing—a blessing to be thankful for and to cherish.

Your smooth cheeks, so unlike those of old age, are only an emblem of the comparative freedom from care which belongs to your happy condition.

Your memories are not yet like some—a book written within and without with the records of mourning and disappointment and crosses.

There are in all probability long years stretching before you, instead of a narrow strip of barren sand, before you come to the great salt sea that is going to swallow you up, as is the case with some of us.

Christianity looks with complacency on your gladness, and does not mean to clip the wing of one white-winged pleasure, or to breathe one glimmer of blackness on your atmosphere.

You are meant to be glad, but it is gladness in a far higher sense that I want to secure for you, or rather to make you secure for yourselves.

God delights in the prosperity and light-hearted buoyancy of His children, especially of His young children.

Ah! but I know there are young lives over which poverty or ill-health or sorrows of one kind or another have cast a gloom as incongruous to your time of life as snow in the garden in the spring, that pinches the crocuses and weighs down young green beech- leaves, would be.

And if I am speaking to any young man or young woman at this time who by reason of painful outward circumstances has had but a chilling spring and youth, I would say to them, 'don't lose heart'; a cloudy morning often breaks into a perfect day.

It is good for a man to have to 'bear the yoke in his youth,' and if you miss joy, you may get grace and strength and patience, which will be a blessing to you all your days.

For all that, the ordinary course of things is that the young should be glad, and that the young life should be as the rippling brook in the sunshine.

I want to leave upon your minds this impression, that it is all right and all in the order of God's providence, who means every one of you to rejoice in the days of your youth.

The text says further, 'Walk in the ways of thine heart.'

That sounds very like the unwholesome teaching, 'Follow nature; do as you like; let passions and tastes and inclinations be your guides.'

pastures upwards, and are meant to be so.

The mere bounding sense of physical strength which leads so many of you young men astray is a good thing and a blessed thing—a blessing to be thankful for and to cherish.

Your smooth cheeks, so unlike those of old age, are only an emblem of the comparative freedom from care which belongs to your happy condition.

Your memories are not yet like some—a book written within and without with the records of mourning and disappointment and crosses.

There are in all probability long years stretching before you, instead of a narrow strip of barren sand, before you come to the great salt sea that is going to swallow you up, as is the case with some of us.

Christianity looks with complacency on your gladness, and does not mean to clip the wing of one white-winged pleasure, or to breathe one glimmer of blackness on your atmosphere.

You are meant to be glad, but it is gladness in a far higher sense that I want to secure for you, or rather to make you secure for yourselves.

God delights in the prosperity and light-hearted buoyancy of His children, especially of His young children.

Ah! but I know there are young lives over which poverty or ill-health or sorrows of one kind or another have cast a gloom as incongruous to your time of life as snow in the garden in the spring, that pinches the crocuses and weighs down young green beech- leaves, would be.

And if I am speaking to any young man or young woman at this time who by reason of painful outward circumstances has had but a chilling spring and youth, I would say to them, 'don't lose heart'; a cloudy morning often breaks into a perfect day.

It is good for a man to have to 'bear the yoke in his youth,' and if you miss joy, you may get grace and strength and patience, which will be a blessing to you all your days.

For all that, the ordinary course of things is that the young should be glad, and that the young life should be as the rippling brook in the sunshine.

I want to leave upon your minds this impression, that it is all right and all in the order of God's providence, who means every one of you to rejoice in the days of your youth.

The text says further, 'Walk in the ways of thine heart.'

That sounds very like the unwholesome teaching, 'Follow

nature; do as you like; let passions and tastes and inclinations be your guides.'

nature; do as you like; let passions and tastes and inclinations be your guides.'

Well, that needs to be set round with a good many guards to prevent it becoming a doctrine of devils.

But for all that, I wish you to notice that that has a great and a religious side to it.

You have come into possession of this mystical life of yours, a possession which requires that you must choose what kind of life you will follow.

Every one has this awful prerogative of being able to walk in the way of their heart.

You have to answer for the kind of way that is, and the kind of heart out of which it has come.

But I want to go to more important things, and so with a clear understanding that the joy of youth is all right and legitimate, that you are intended to be glad, and to feel the physical and intellectual spring and buoyancy of early days, let us go on to the next thing.

'Rejoice,' says my text, and it adds, 'Reflect.'

It is one of the blessings of your time of life, my young friends, that you do not do much of that.

It is one of your happy immunities that you are not yet in the habit of looking at life as a whole, and considering actions and consequences.

Keep that spontaneity as long as you can; it is a good thing to keep.

But for all that, do not forget this awful thing, that it may turn to exaggeration and excess, and that it needs, like all other good things, to be guarded and rightly used.

And so, 'Rejoice,' and 'walk in the sight of thine eyes'; but —'know that for all these things God will bring thee to judgment.'

Well, now, is that thought to come in (I was going to say, like a mourning-coach driven through a wedding procession) to kill the joys we have been seeming to receive from the former words?

Are we taking back all that we have been giving, and giving out instead something that will make them all cower and be quiet, like the singing birds that stop their singing and hide in the leaves when they see the kite in the sky?

No, there is no need for anything of the sort.

'For all these things God will bring thee to judgment': that is not the thought that kills, but that purifies and ennobles.

Regard being had to the opinions expressed at various points in the earlier portion of this Book, we may be allowed to think of this testimony as having

reference to the perpetual judgment that is going on in this world always over every man's life.

A great German thinker has it, in reference to the history of nations, that the history of the world is the judgment of the world, and although that is not true if it is a denial of a physical day of judgment, it is true in a very profound and solemn sense with regard to the daily life of every man, that whether there be a judgment-seat beyond the grave or not, and whether this Preacher knew anything about that or no, there is going on through the whole of a man's life, and evolving itself, this solemn conviction, that we are to pass away from this present life.

All our days are knit together as one whole.

Yesterday is the parent of today, and today is the parent of all the tomorrows.

The meaning and the deepest consequence of man's life is that no feeling, no thought that flits across the mirror of his life and heart dies utterly, leaving nothing behind it.

But rather the metaphor of the Apostle is the true one, 'That which thou sowest, that shalt thou also reap.'

All your life a seed-time, all your life a harvest-time too, for the seed which I sow today is the seed which I have reaped from all my former sowings, and so cause and consequence go rolling on in life in extricable entanglement, issuing out in this, that whatever a man does lives on in him, and that each moment inherits the whole consequence of his former life.

And now, you young men and women, you boys and girls, mind! this seed-time is the one that will be most powerful in your lives, and there is a judgment you do not need to die to meet.