Peter 2:11—Titus 2:11-13—1 John 3:3; Ecclesiastes 11:9,10
Dearly beloved, I beseech you as strangers and pilgrims, abstain from fleshly lusts, which war against the soul—For the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men, teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world; looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ—And every man that hath this hope in him purifieth himself, even as he is pure.
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. Therefore remove sorrow from thy heart, and put away evil from thy flesh: for childhood and youth are vanity.
ROBERT HAWKER (1753-1827): Some have thought that the Preacher, in these final verses, is adopting an ironical language to the younger part of his audience, by way of deterring them from evil; as if he had said, Pursue the ways of thine own heart, and the desire of thine eyes, and then mark the consequence…But I confess that the scripture doth not strike me in this point of view.
ADAM CLARKE (1760-1832): It is in the order of a most gracious God, that the young should rejoice in their youth; but in such a moderate use of all their enjoyments, that they may not be confounded in the day of judgment.
CHARLES SIMEON (1759-1836): There are in Ecclesiastes many concessions to that effect. “There is nothing better for a man, than that he should eat and drink, and that he should make his soul enjoy good in his labour. This also I saw, that it was from the hand of God,” Ecclesiastes 2:24; see also Ecclesiastes 3:12,13; 5:18,19. Such passages as these may indeed be easily pressed too far—but “God has given us all things richly to enjoy,” 1 Timothy 6:17; and, provided we do not spend an undue portion of our substance on earthly indulgences, or set our affections upon them, there is nothing which prohibits a reasonable use, and a temperate enjoyment of them. If only we sit loose to them in our hearts, and enjoy God in them, they are perfectly lawful; yea, “they are sanctified to us by the word of God and prayer,” 1 Timothy 4:4,5. But the terms used by Solomon here—“Rejoice, O young man, in they youth, and walk in the ways of thine heart, and in the sight of thine eyes,” cannot well be taken in a good sense.
ALEXANDER MacLAREN (1826-1910): How then are they meant to be understood?
C. H. SPURGEON (1834-1892): Solomon seems to say, “Do this if you will; do it if you dare; but remember that there is a judgment day coming, and that God will judge you for all these things.” Nobody in his sense supposes that Solomon exhorted young men to walk according to their own heart and according to the sight of their eyes.
CHARLES SIMEON: To “walk in the ways of our own heart, and in the sight of our own eyes,” is equivalent to walking in the ways of criminal self-indulgence. This is the import of these expressions in other passages, Numbers 15:39; Deuteronomy 15:39—and so they must be taken here; as is evident from the awful judgments with which such indulgences are menaced.
SUSANNAH WESLEY (1669-1742): This is still more evident, if we further consider, that religion is nothing else than the doing the will of God, and not our own.
JOHN TRAPP (1601-1699): Let no man imagine that it ever came into the Preacher’s heart here, to add fuel to the fire of youthful lusts, to excite young people, unruly enough of themselves, to take their full swing in sinful pleasures.
CHARLES BRIDGES (1794-1869): Thoughtless young man—Thou hast no idea of cheering thine heart, but in carnal enjoyments. Go on in thy course. Indulge thine appetite. Gratify all thy passions. Throw contempt upon the warnings of conscience, and the authority of the Bible. But count the cost. Think at what a risk—know thou, the day of jollity will not last forever—you may have your pleasure today, but the day of reckoning is at hand.
MATTHEW POOLE (1624-1679): Solomon speaks to young men particularly, because they have both the greatest ability and the strongest inclinations to pursue sensual pleasures, and are most impatient either of restraint or admonition. Young men are often foolish, and inconsiderate, whereby they run into manifold dangers, and therefore they shall do well to hearken to the counsels of those who by their greater wisdom and experience are more capable judges of these matters.
CHARLES BRIDGES: The fact is, that a young man too often has no idea what temptation is. He realizes no need of any special warning. He fancies himself well able to be his own keeper. He has never allowed the thought, that none but God is capable of knowing what he is, if he be left to himself. Let him take his Bible, and learn by it what he has yet to learn—the knowledge of himself. He will then realize something more of a distinct awakening of the infinite peril of staying one moment on Satan’s ground, while conscience is speaking to him—that sin is much more easily resisted at the beginning than in its progress—that his true prosperity begins at the moment, when he engages his heart to God—that pleasure for a moment only there may be in the ways of sin, but happiness can never be.
CHARLES SIMEON: Little do young people think what their views of their present conduct will be, when God shall open their eyes, whether it be in the present or the future life. They now imagine that they have a licence to indulge in sin and to neglect their God. They conceive, that if they only abstain from gross immoralities, they may well be excused. But these are vain delusive imaginations. God views their conduct with other eyes. He admits not those frivolous excuses with which men satisfy their own minds.
JOHN GILL (1697-1771): Sometimes the sins of youth are in some persons remembered by God, and punished in old age; and if not, they are brought to remembrance through the dispensations of Providence: and the people of God are chastised for them then, and are ready to fear it is in a way of wrath: “For thou writest bitter things against me, and makest me to possess the inquities of my youth,” Job 13:26.
MATTHEW HENRY (1662-1714): Time does not wear out the guilt of sin.
CHARLES SIMEON: David deprecates the remembrance of his sins, Psalm 25:7. He specifies, in particular, “the sins of his youth,” which, though committed through levity and thoughtlessness, were displeasing to God, and must entail His judgments on the soul.
ALEXANDER MacLAREN (1826-1910): Why should you rob yourself of years of blessing, and lay up bitter memories of wasted and polluted moments?
CHARLES BRIDGES: Fearful, indeed, must be the peril to the young man persisting in his own way, when to Timothy, a man of God, perhaps young in years, but matured in grace—a warning from Paul was deemed to be needful: “Flee youthful lusts,” 2 Timothy 2:22.
CHARLES SIMEON: O! my young friends, I entreat you to reflect how bitterly you will one day deprecate His remembrance of those sins, which now you pass over as unworthy of any serious consideration.
CHARLES BRIDGES: The judgment to come is no dream, nor “cunningly devised fable”—God will call thee to judgment. For all the sins and vanities of thy youth—all those things which are now so grateful to our senses—for all our time, talents, opportunities, and their use or abuse. Actions forgotten will rise up in their freshness—our past history will be read again—the manifestation of all the secrets of all hearts. Willing or unwilling, we must stand before the great white throne alone in the midst of the countless throng, Revelation 20:11,12.
