Those Were The Days

March 28, 2010

Introduction

The other evening, a song began to go through my mind. The words were clear and unmistakable: “Those were the days, my friend!” Then I began to think of more of the words, and finally I turned to Google to find the background and more of the words. This is part of what I found.:

From Wikipedia: "Those Were the Days" is a song credited to Gene Raskin, who put English lyrics to the Russian gypsy song "Dorogoi dlinnoyu" (lit. "By the long road"), written by Boris Fomin (1900-1948) with words by the poet Konstantin Podrevskii. It deals with reminiscence upon youth and romantic idealism. The first known recording of the song was by Alexander Vertinsky in the 1920s. The song is best remembered for Mary Hopkin's 1968 recording, which was a top-ten hit in both the U.S. and the U.K.

Once upon a time, there was a tavern

Where we used to raise a glass or two.

Remember how we laughed away the hours,

Think of all the great things we would do?

Those were the days, my friend!

We thought they'd never end.

We'd sing and dance forever and a day.

We'd live the life we'd choose.

We'd fight and never lose.

For we were young and sure to have our way!

Di di di di…

Then, the busy years went rushing by us.

We lost our starry notions on the way.

If, by chance, I'd see you in the tavern,

We'd smile at one another and we'd say,

Those were the days, my friend!

We thought they'd never end.

We'd sing and dance forever and a day.

We'd live the life we'd choose.

We'd fight and never lose.

Those were the days, oh yes those were the days!

Di di di di…

Just tonight, I stood before the tavern.

Nothing seemed the way it used to be.

In the glass, I saw a strange reflection.

Was that lonely woman really me?

Those were the days, my friend

We thought they'd never end

We'd sing and dance forever and a day

We'd live the life we'd choose

We'd fight and never lose

Those were the days, oh yes those were the days!

Di di di di…

Through the door, there came familiar laughter.

I saw your face and heard you call my name.

Oh my friend, we're older but no wiser,

For in our hearts, the dreams are still the same.

Those were the days, my friend!

We thought they'd never end.

We'd sing and dance forever and a day.

We'd live the life we'd choose.

We'd fight and never lose.

Those were the days, oh yes those were the days!

Di di di di… [big finish!]

The question this morning: What does the Bible say about all of that? I think it says a great deal. Let’s consider what it says about youth, what it says about the things of this earth, and what it proposes as an answer to life’s real brevity.

Body

I. What does the Bible say about youth?

It addresses youth with a command and challenge.

(Eccl 12:1 NKJV) Remember now your Creator in the days of your youth, Before the difficult days come, And the years draw near when you say, "I have no pleasure in them": . . . {13} Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God and keep His commandments, For this is man's all. {14} For God will bring every work into judgment, Including every secret thing, Whether good or evil.

God has put eternity in our hearts

(Eccl 3:11 NKJV) He has made everything beautiful in its time. Also He has put eternity in their hearts, except that no one can find out the work that God does from beginning to end

1. It is an easy natural thing to think that we will live forever.

a. In the words of he song:

Those were the days, my friend

We thought they'd never end

We'd sing and dance forever and a day

We'd live the life we'd choose

We'd fight and never lose

Those were the days, oh yes those were the days!

b. We do not come to grips with dying unless something goes seriously wrong.

II. But the Bible warns us to not count on tomorrow.

Your life is only a vapor.

(James 4:13-16 NKJV) Come now, you who say, "Today or tomorrow we will go to such and such a city, spend a year there, buy and sell, and make a profit"; {14} whereas you do not know what will happen tomorrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapor that appears for a little time and then vanishes away. {15} Instead you ought to say, "If the Lord wills, we shall live and do this or that." {16} But now you boast in your arrogance. All such boasting is evil.

Life is compared to the grass that withers.

(1 Pet 1:22-25 NKJV) Since you have purified your souls in obeying the truth through the Spirit in sincere love of the brethren, love one another fervently with a pure heart, {23} having been born again, not of corruptible seed but incorruptible, through the word of God which lives and abides forever, {24} because "All flesh is as grass, And all the glory of man as the flower of the grass. The grass withers, And its flower falls away, {25} But the word of the LORD endures forever." Now this is the word which by the gospel was preached to you.

There is the story of the rich fool

(Luke 12:16-21 NKJV) Then He spoke a parable to them, saying: "The ground of a certain rich man yielded plentifully. {17} "And he thought within himself, saying, 'What shall I do, since I have no room to store my crops?' {18} "So he said, 'I will do this: I will pull down my barns and build greater, and there I will store all my crops and my goods. {19} 'And I will say to my soul, "Soul, you have many goods laid up for many years; take your ease; eat, drink, and be merry."' {20} "But God said to him, 'Fool! This night your soul will be required of you; then whose will those things be which you have provided?' {21} "So is he who lays up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God."

III. Looking to eternity.

Paul compared this life with the world to come..

(Rom 8:18 NKJV) For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us.

1. Had Paul suffered much?

(2 Cor 11:23-30 NKJV) Are they ministers of Christ?; I speak as a fool; I am more: in labors more abundant, in stripes above measure, in prisons more frequently, in deaths often. {24} From the Jews five times I received forty stripes minus one. {25} Three times I was beaten with rods; once I was stoned; three times I was shipwrecked; a night and a day I have been in the deep; {26} in journeys often, in perils of waters, in perils of robbers, in perils of my own countrymen, in perils of the Gentiles, in perils in the city, in perils in the wilderness, in perils in the sea, in perils among false brethren; {27} in weariness and toil, in sleeplessness often, in hunger and thirst, in fastings often, in cold and nakedness; {28} besides the other things, what comes upon me daily: my deep concern for all the churches. {29} Who is weak, and I am not weak? Who is made to stumble, and I do not burn with indignation? {30} If I must boast, I will boast in the things which concern my infirmity.

2. What was his conclusion?

(Rom 8:18 NKJV) For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us.

Then there was Moses

(Heb 11:24-26 NKJV) By faith Moses, when he became of age, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter, {25} choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God than to enjoy the passing pleasures of sin, {26} esteeming the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures in Egypt; for he looked to the reward.

1. Moses did not sing “Those were the days” in the way it has been song.

2. Instead, he looked forward to tomorrow; “for he looked to the reward”

Conclusion

Can we only sing “Oh my friend, we're older but no wiser,” or can we join Paul, Moses, and a host of others who look forward to a blessed future with our Blessed Lord?

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