Discipleship - Part 6 Series

Today I would like to speak to the younger men. In Titus 2:6, after speaking of the responsibilities of older men and older women and younger women he mentions younger men. In this verse he says, “Likewise exhort the young men to be sober-minded…” This is exactly what I plan to do with the Lord’s strength.

Time travels fast. In a few years I will if the Lord wills meet up with what is dreaded by some as the half-century milestone. It seems that it was only a few years ago that I was a younger man. It is hard to believe that it will soon be thirty years since I walked across the stage at Northwestern High School. It is amazing to me that it has been more than 24 years since I swept my bride Debbie off her feet. Now my own son is married with children and in a few months (the Lord willing) I will be giving away a daughter to be married to a young man.

But in spite of all the years that have passed I can still remember the days of my youth. I can still remember growing up in Plattsburgh, New York and moving to Baltimore, MD at the tender age of eight.

I can remember spending a short stint in Cherry Hill and living in West Baltimore’s Popular Grove “hood.” I remember at the age of 12 moving to Rogers Avenue and then several years later migrating up Liberty Road to Randallstown.

I can remember the joys and the sorrows of my boyhood, the hurts and pains; both the good decisions and the bad, the misplaced affections and the hopes and dreams of my youth. I have learned both from experience and the Scriptures how to gain joy and avoid grief and I would like to share my thoughts with the young men who will listen.

Why does Paul command Titus to encourage the young men? J.C. Ryle, a preacher who lived from 1816 to 1900 had some interesting thoughts on this subject. He said:

Young men, rich or poor, gentle or rough, educated or uneducated, in the city or in the country--it makes no difference—few young men are led by the Spirit, few are on that narrow road which leads to life, few are setting their affections on things above, few are taking up the cross, and following Christ.

Young men form a large and most important class in the population of this country; but where, and in what condition, are their souls? Regardless of where we turn for an answer, the report will be one and the same! Let us ask any faithful minister of the gospel, and note what he will tell us.

* How many unmarried young people can he remember who come to the Lord's Supper?

* Who are the most backward about the doctrines of salvation, the most irregular about Sunday services?

* Who are the most difficult to draw to weekly Bible studies and prayer meetings?

* Who are the most inattentive to whatever is being preached?

* Which part of his congregation fills him with the most anxiety?

* Who in his flock are the hardest to manage, who require the most frequent warnings and rebukes, who cause him the greatest uneasiness and sorrow, who keep him most constantly in fear for their souls, and seem the most hopeless?

Depend on it. His answer will always be, "The Young Men."

Ryle writes, Let us ask the parents in any county throughout this land, and see what they will generally say.

* Who in their families gives them the most pain and trouble?

* Who needs the most watchfulness, and most often provokes and disappoints them?

* Who are the first to be led away from what is right, and the last to remember cautions and good advice? Who are the most difficult to keep in order and limits?

* Who most frequently breaks out into open sin, disgrace the name they bear, make their friends unhappy, embitter the older relatives, and cause them to die with sorrow in their hearts?

Depend on it. The answer will generally be, "The Young Men."

Let us ask the judges and police officers, and note what they will reply.

* Who goes to the nightclubs and bars the most?

* Who makes up street gangs?

* Who are most often arrested for drunkenness, disturbing the peace, fighting, stealing, assaults, and the like?

* Who fills the jails, and penitentiaries, and detention homes?

* Who is the class which requires the most incessant watching and looking after?

Depend on it. They will at once point to the same group, they will say, "The Young Men."

Ryle says that even if we look at the upper classes, we will find no differences.