Matthew 19:16

THE CALL TO YOUTH

‘Good Master, what good thing shall I do, that I may have eternal life?’

Matthew 19:16

Even the most superficial reader of the New Testament can scarcely fail to remark the attitude adopted by our Blessed Lord towards all young people.

I. The young man’s characteristics.—Our Blessed Lord’s whole heart is filled with a yearning love for this young man. He had great possessions, yet there was with him modesty, manly reserve, frankness, and simplicity of heart. ‘All these things have I kept from my youth up.’ Then he was brim full of intense earnestness. He had selected a lofty ideal.

II. God’s gifts to man.—To all of you there has been allotted by Almighty God a Divine work to do in the world, and for the accomplishment of that work you have all received certain gifts. This thought compels us to pause and reflect. In some way or other, sooner or later, often by means of very strange incidents, God speaks this message to us all as He did to the young man of the Gospel—‘Come, and follow Me.’

III. The Saviour’s call.—Now the Saviour’s call to this rich young man carried with it very special force. It cut right down to the quick of his life. On the face of it, it would appear that the call involved display of tremendous self-sacrifice. It is useless to evade, or whittle down, or explain away the fact. Some sacrifice is required by Almighty God from us all, some detachment from this world and its own immediate interests, if we would serve the Lord heart and soul.

IV. The call neglected.—But this great fact, this eternal law of sacrifice, is just one of those truths which we all to-day cannot abide. On all sides in this England of ours we see people ignobly surrendering themselves to the spirit of self-indulgence. It is one of the most serious signs of our times. The organisation of pleasure has never attained to so high a pitch in England as that which it occupies at this moment.

V. Individual responsibilities.—God will call, is perhaps calling, each one of you to work for Him in some particular path of life, to fling to the winds all the wretched desire for self-indulgence, the worship of money, the worship of self which is eating into the very heart of this old England of ours. To all of you there is entrusted the shaping and the moulding of the future. Guard and cherish with deepest reverence those Divine qualities of youth which drew from our Lord that look of love.

The Rev. J. H. T. Perkins.

Illustration

‘It was the lot of Charles Kingsley to witness during his boyhood the awful scene of the Bristol Reform Riots, and all the hideous consequences of that wild outburst of human frenzy displayed by the unhappy city. Long years afterwards one of his pupils, a mere boy, asked him the question: “Whose fault is it that such things can be?” “Your fault and mine,” came the unexpected reply. What did that great preacher and teacher mean when he uttered that amazing statement? Just this: All of us are members of a great family, all of us share in a weighty responsibility, each one of us, no matter how humble, is his brother’s keeper, and if we shirk or minimise that responsibility we are simply uttering the murderer’s excuse—the excuse of Cain.’

(SECOND OUTLINE)

THE CLEAR COMMAND

The young ruler was attracted to Christ by His wonderful morality, by His wonderful doings. He admitted, what men who do not profess to believe in the Divinity of our Lord admit to-day, that Jesus was the greatest moral teacher that ever lived. But we know that Jesus is something more—He is still the King amongst men and he lives and reigns amongst them.

I. The great question.—This young man was perfectly satisfied with himself, and yet he felt a void. He felt within himself that keeping the commandments was not enough, and he asked the Lord to show him the way to eternal life. The Lord gives him one commandment far and above all the rest. He was to sell all that he had and give to the poor and follow Jesus Christ. The Master dealt with him in exactly the same way he ought to have been dealt with. He thought himself very good, but after all, while his conscience inclined one way his will inclined another. He would have liked to be with the Saviour and to keep continually with Him, yet his love of riches kept him away.

II. The clear command.—To forsake all and follow Christ! Do you know what it means? It means to forsake father and mother if need be, and to give up everything. We speak of some sacrifice that we make for a religious object, but what sacrifices do we really make? Our sacrifices are very small compared with the sacrifices of the early Christians. But Christ promises this—that the man who hath forsaken all, father and mother and children and position, for His sake and the Gospel’s, shall receive an hundred-fold. Self-denial for Christ! How very few of us, comparatively speaking, practise it. Each one has his own besetting sin. It may be love of pleasure, it may be something else; but it is something that keeps us from following the Master as we should.

—The Rev. J. T. Thompson.

Illustrations

(1) ‘Self-denial lies at the foundation of the Christian character. The influence of great possessions unfits men for any self-denial whatever. Few men can resist the temptation of wealth to luxurious habits, modes of life that become more and more exacting. Pleasure is a tyrannous master; indolence is begotten of easy circumstances; reflection languishes while desire is nursed. It is so easy, too, to purchase Christian labour: “We will give and others will work.” Then many men seek relief from the call of Christian duty. This is the reason why many a man trained up in a godly home, and familiar with Christ’s teaching, is yet not one of Christ’s followers. He knows the Christian life to be a self-denying life, and he has wholly unfitted himself for self-denial; sadly, drearily, hopelessly he turns away.’

(2) ‘A poor woman looked longingly at the flowers which grew in the king’s garden, wishing to buy some for her sick daughter. The king’s gardener repelled her: “The king’s flowers are not for sale.” But the king chancing to come by, plucked a bouquet and gave it to the woman, remarking, “It is true the king does not sell his flowers, but he gives them away.” So, too, the Great King does not sell eternal life: He gives it.’