I'm going to ask you to take
your Bibles and turn with me to the book of Proverbs, chapter
20. Proverbs, chapter 20. Proverbs is one we normally consider
on Sunday mornings, but I've been looking at this passage
of Scripture for a few weeks and wanted to look at verse 29
tonight. Verse 29. Proverbs 20, 29, the glory of
young men is their strength, and the beauty of old men is
the gray hair. Let's pray together. Our Father,
as we call upon you this evening, we are so thankful that we can
call upon you, call upon your blessed and holy name. Knowing
Lord Jesus, that according to your promise, where two or three
are gathered together, you're in the midst of us. And Lord,
tonight we've gathered in your name. I pray that you'd bless
the word, bless it to our understanding, our comfort, our peace, for Christ's
sake. Amen. The book of Proverbs, as we've
often been reminded, is a book that's got two messages. It's got a natural message, some
good, honorable advice, instruction, admonition. But that good advice,
though it is good advice, does not feed the soul of a regenerate. It's good advice. It's good advice
not to let your kids go out and play in the road. That's good
advice. But it doesn't feed the soul
spiritually. And that's the way the book of
Proverbs is. That's the way this is written. It's got a message to it with
that thought. We see that here tonight. The scripture declares the glory,
and this is naturally speaking, now I'm going to tell you what
it naturally means. The glory of young men is their strength,
and the beauty of old men is the gray head. Now, naturally
speaking, We understand that the glory, that is the ornament,
the comeliness, the honor, the ability to boast, that's what
it means, that word glory, the ability to boast in a young man
is the delight that he has to be able to do what he pretty
well sets his mind to. within the limits of, you know,
capability. And the beauty or the magnificence
or the splendor of old men, of the aged, is the gray head. Now, naturally speaking, What
that means is they've come to a point in their life when they've
began to learn a few things about getting older and they've started
to pick up some things concerning their limitations. About a week
ago, Glenda and I went into a hardware store in Morgantown and I asked
One of the fellows there at the counter, I said, y'all carry
Portland cement? He said, yeah. Back over there. And I said, OK. So I just got
a regular buggy, like a grocery store buggy, pushed it over there,
and I got to that section of the store where the Portland
cement was. It's just Portland, if you don't
know, Portland, it's not a ready mix. You don't want to add water.
You've got to mix it. It's just pure concrete is what
it is. And I walked over there and it
was 94 pounds, a 94 pound bag. And I looked at that 94 pound
bag and I thought, I can handle that. And so I got it. Jeff, I got it, I got it on my
leg and I got it down in that buggy and dropped it down in
the buggy. And immediately, I got to thinking. I got to get it out. I got to
get it out of that buggy. Gravity got it in. Gravity. Some effort. But gravity
got it in. 25, 30 years ago, I wouldn't
even have thought about it. I'd have thought, you know what,
I got it in there, I can get it out with no trouble. But you
know, after a few years of bad back, having a hernia operation,
you get to thinking about it. And you think, you know what? The glory of young men is their
strength, and the beauty of old men is to have some sense, to
ask for some help, to get that out of there, and to not try
to overpower something that you're just not capable or shouldn't
be trying. Let me say this. That's the natural
understanding. When you're young, you think,
I can handle this. And you get older, and you start
realizing, maybe I'm not as stout as I used to be. There's no sense
hurting myself. Now, spiritually speaking, what
is being said in this passage of scripture? This is a parable. And you remember what the Lord
said to His disciples when they asked Him, why do you teach in
parables? Why do you teach in these proverbs? And He said, because it's given
unto you to know. the mysteries of the kingdom
of heaven, but to them it is not given. To a believer, the
Proverbs are set forth to teach them spiritually the things of
God. But they're given in such a way
that the natural man can, even in his religious mind, can think
that he's figured it out. and knows what's being said,
but it's not been revealed to him. He's duped. He's fooled. The scripture declares, the glory
of young men is their strength. Now, that word glory, I'm going
to go back and I'm going to tell you, it still means comeliness,
honor, to vaunt yourself concerning your ability. But this particular
word comes from a root word that means to shake a tree or to vaunt
oneself boastfully. You know, to think, I can handle
this. But to boastfully and spiritually
boast in your ability is what he's talking about. Just remember
now, this is speaking to God's people and it's for our admonition
and it's a reminder of that spiritual battle that continues to rage
within every one of us. Now this scripture is to God's
people. And the Spirit of God is telling
God's people something about our nature, that old nature that
we're still carrying. We've got an old man that's still
within, that we're living and battling with as a new man that
knows God and believes God and doesn't sin. But there's an old
man that does nothing but sin. And these two, they're battling. I want you to keep your place
right there. Turn to 2 Timothy 2. 2 Timothy 2. I'm going to
show you something. The Apostle Paul was speaking
to young Timothy, his son in the faith. And he gave Timothy
some words of wisdom here. 2 Timothy 2. Verse 22 through 26, he says
to Timothy, flee also youthful lusts, but follow righteousness,
faith, charity, peace with them that call on the Lord out of
a pure heart. But foolish and unlearned questions
avoid, knowing that they do gender strifes. And the servant of the
Lord must not strive, but be gentle unto all men, apt to teach,
patient in meekness, instructing those that oppose themselves,
if God perventure will give them repentance to the acknowledging
of the truth. and that they may recover themselves
out of the snare of the devil who were taken captive by him
at his will. Now there's no doubt that it's
good advice to be admonished to avoid the youthful lust of
our flesh, which we never get away from. I mean, they're all
there. I mean, it's always been there.
It's always there. But the Apostle Paul, he's not
just talking about the normal things that we think of as lust
concerning, you know, his admonition to Timothy. When he said in verse
22, flee also youthful lust, But what he's speaking of is
our need and our admonition to resist or shun the desire of
our flesh because of youthful or immature pride and vainglory
to become involved in situations, especially within the body, where
debates and disputes with others come to the forefront, and it
tends to do nothing but gender strife. That's what he's talking
about. In our immaturity, if we're not
careful, we'll get hung up on stuff that just doesn't matter. That's what he's talking about.
Flee also youthful lust, to think that you've got to take care
of everything that comes up. Brother Don Fortner, gave me
some advice one time and he said this, he said if you will remember
what I'm saying, he said it took me a long time to learn this,
but he said the best way to handle a problem as a general rule within
the body is leave it alone. Leave it alone. Avoid it. Avoid it. He said the more you
stir it, the worse it stinks. Leave it alone. So Paul is admonishing
Timothy right here. He said, Timothy, flee these
youthful lusts. Stay away from, he said, the
glory of young men is their ability or their thought of their ability
to be able to handle a situation. You got a problem? Pray about
it. Talk to the Lord about it. Be
an encouragement. So that glory, that vain glory,
that self-boasting of a young man is to think too highly. And the youth there, it's not
necessarily that he's young in natural age, but he's just immature. He may be 70 years old, and he's
still immature. He's still a youth. Spiritually
speaking, he's thinking by his strength, by his ability, by
his spiritual capacity and force that he can handle something
that he sees as a problem. Paul says, flee that, flee that
juvenile, that youthful, that juvenile desire and follow righteousness,
follow faith, believing on God, follow after love, charity and
peace. and establish peace with them
that call on the Lord out of a pure heart. Wait, wait on Him. Exhibit that spirit of restraint. Wait on the Lord. But then back
in our book, in Proverbs, the glory of young men is their strength. But then on the other hand, he
said, oh, but the beauty of old men. And here again, not necessarily
in age. I mean, in the gray head right
there, that's just speaking of maturity. As a general rule,
that's the case. But there may be some very, very
wise young men and very, very immature older ones. But it's
speaking of maturity. That gray head, it doesn't mean
in age but in knowledge of wisdom, teaching, taught of the Lord.
Listen to this, Proverbs 16, 31. The hoary head, the gray
head, is a crown of glory if it be found in the way of righteousness. An aged, taught believer. tell you something that just
thrills me. I began to notice, as Brother
Henry and Brother Scott, the two men that I just so highly
have looked to, and you too, for so many years. I watched,
the older they got, it was just a spirit about these two preachers
that just were so tender, so kind, they had learned some things
about dealing with people, waiting on the Lord, just looking to
Christ. And now here the Scripture bears
this out. The hoary head, crown of glory,
if it's found in the way of righteousness, men and women spiritually, aged
and mature, they've been kept by the power of God through faith,
they've been taught something of the grace of God, and they
exhibit that spirit of love, love for God's Word, love for
God's people. And they're found in the way
of righteousness. They're believers of the gospel.
And they walk in a way that they adorn the gospel, the doctrine
that they believe. And that's the description of
it. That hoary head, that crown of
glory. You know the world places contempt
on old age. Really, it's maturity. And it
tries to make those of the twilight years to be nothing more than
a burden to society. Humanly speaking, you take a
business, some of you men, you know this better than I, and
the older some get, you know, they begin to try to figure out
how can I get you out of here and get some youth in here. And
what they're actually foolishly thinking is all of these years
of maturity and learning what these men and women have been
taught concerning what they do. You know, I understand we began
to get older and we were not able to do what we could. But I'm telling you, to be able,
as a believer, I mean when I find myself I'm wanting to know something. What I do if I can't get a hold
of somebody, I'm going to try to go to a good commentary. Somebody that I've read and it's
been proven, they've been taught, some of the old writers, and
you read what these men have to say and it's like they didn't
come up with it. This wasn't their first rodeo.
They'd been there. They'd learned something. So
the Scriptures set forth that those who are found in the way
of righteousness, they are a great blessing to God's people. Why? Because they've been taught,
they've learned through trials and tribulations, the graciousness
of the Lord's mercy to keep them. Keep your, close your hands right
there, just turn over to Psalm, Psalm 37. Psalm 37. Psalm 37, verse 23. The scripture says, the steps of a good man are ordered, established
by the Lord. and he delighteth in his way."
Now, an aged, mature, taught believer, one referred to, as
we've looked at in passage in Proverbs, as the gray head, the
old man. Let me tell you what he does.
Now you take that passage of Scripture right there. Now here,
the steps are a good man, of a good manner ordered by the
Lord. And He delighteth in His way. Now, in our youth, newly
regenerated, now we read that and we believe that. We believe
it by faith. We believe that. But let me tell you about the
beauty of old men. They've learned it. They've experienced
it. They've been taught. by the grace
of God, and they recall, they think back. I mean, I've been
preaching a long time. And there's a lot of things that
through the years, I and you too, many of you here, that you've
gone through. People talk about wanting to,
well, I'd like to go back and be 25 again. I wouldn't. I wouldn't. Would you, Dave? I really wouldn't want to go
back and have to relearn some things that I went through. Some
trials, some tribulations, some testings. I mean, it's like when
I got to boot camp, they gave us a little old book. You open
it up. First thing, I'll never forget,
first thing it said. Welcome to the United States Naval Boot
Camp. Then it said under this, you
will never forget this experience. Welcome, you ain't never gonna
forget this. You know, I wouldn't want to,
would you want to go through Paris Island again, wherever
you want? I'm telling you, you're so thankful for what you've learned. But you think by the grace of
God, Lord taught me that. and reminds me of it. The steps
of a good man are ordered by the Lord. I believe that. But I look back now and I think,
how did I get here? And I think back, I wonder why
I had to go through that. I wonder why that happened. Well,
I don't know. But I can tell you this, it happened
for my good and God's glory. I've learned that by experience. In the course of my life, it's
been ordained, predestinated according to the everlasting
covenant of God's grace. And the Lord has reminded His
people, you know, that He's been pleased to keep them. I'll keep
you. I'm not going to leave you. I'm
not going to forsake you. When you pass through the waters,
I'm going to be there. Right now, if the gray hair,
if it's found in the way of righteousness, it's a crown of glory. I look
at a lot of people here, starting to see some gray hair around
here. And I'm going to tell you something. I know just enough
to know for those who have been established in the faith, established
in Christ, established in His gospel. You've learned some things. You've been taught some things.
And that's the beauty. The beauty of seeing aged, taught
believers that are still here. Still rejoicing. Still thankful. Gray head found in the way of
righteousness. It's a crown of glory. But I
got to thinking about something. The opposite of that statement.
If a gray head is not established in the way of righteousness.
There's nothing that's sadder than to see that state. If someone gets older, and I
know that we can die anytime, I know that. I know it just,
as I've said, I've watched people die. And you just, they just
die. But if they're not established
in righteousness, I know, I know, but for the grace of God, I know
what's coming. They're going to leave this world, and immediately,
immediately, they're going to know, I've made a great mistake. And it's forever. So a believer
knows, that the gray head, establishing righteousness, that's a true
blessing. The Spirit of God has taught
God's people that now in the twilight years of their life,
they're closer now to glory. Our salvation is closer right
now in the sense we believed. I mean, humanly speaking, There's
so many of us here, we're so close. We're so close. And it's a beautiful thing to
behold the effects of our aging and to see the glory of God that
has kept His people. The Spirit of God establishes
God's people with some maturity. And by faith, they still believe
it. But there's some experience there. And now Paul the Apostle, who
was very close to dying, listen to what he said in 2 Timothy
4, 6, 8. He said, I'm now ready to be offered. Now you know there's
a time when a believer, young, young in the faith, they hadn't
been taught spiritually some things. But Paul was saying this
and saying this with confidence, saying this with joy, gladness. I told you, Brother Henry Dorris
told me that every night, they pray every night, the Lord take
them. Lord, if you'd be pleased, will you take us tonight? Paul said, I'm now ready to be
offered the time of my departure is at hand. And listen to this
experience speaking here. He says, I fought a good fight.
I finished my course. I've kept the faith. Henceforth
it is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord,
the righteous judge, shall give me at that day, and not only
to me, but to all them that love his appearing. Therefore, a believer
knows that Almighty God has ordered His steps. He sees something
of how He got here. And it would become us, knowing
that the Lord has taught us by faith and experience that He
orders our steps, it would become us to consider, prayerfully,
thankfully, consider our circumstances. If we're going through something,
And if it's a trial, if it's a tribulation, if it's a whatever,
that we should prayerfully consider our walk and realize that we
are by divine decree where we are. The steps of a good man. Psalm 37, 23. Ordered by the
Lord. Listen to verse 24. Though he
fall, he shall not be utterly cast down, for the Lord upholdeth
him with his hand. Oh, the beauty of an old man. The magnificence of God's grace
through trials sent to prove God's faithfulness. That experience that is, while
going through it, painful. No trial is light going through
it. It's grievous. The blessed result of it. Here's
another thing. The blessing of getting old.
Though he fall. I love the way the Spirit of
God wrote that. It didn't say if he fall. Though he fall. What do you mean? To be faint
hearted through trials. To be going through something
and to forget. The Lord sent this. The Lord
sent this. He worketh all things after the
counsel. The beauty of the gray head is
to know by experience though he fall and every believer knows
that. He understands it. He's been
established from experience. Though I fall, how many times
a day, though I doubt, though I waver, though I falter, though
he fall, here's what that believer knows from experience, from gray
hair. He shall not be utterly cast
down or sent away. Why? For the Lord upholdeth him
with His hand. You want to know how? You want
to know what the manifestation that He has not utterly cast
you down? You still believe Him. He has
still granted you faith. He has still kept you in spite
you've not left. They went out from us. Why? Because they were not of us.
Had they been of us, surely they would have remained. We fall. We falter. But the Lord will
not utterly cast us down. Verse 25, Scripture says, and
here's The psalmist speaking from experience, he said, I've
been young, now I'm old. Yet have I not seen the righteous
forsaken, nor his seed begging bread. He got some years on him
now, and the dew of youth is fading. The psalmist said, this
is something I've never seen. I've never experienced this.
I've never seen the righteous, those made so by the grace of
God, by the imputed righteousness of Christ, those that have been
kept by God's power and grace. I've never seen the righteous,
nor His seed. Surely, there was a lot of questions
on exactly what that meant. There were a lot of commentators.
They have different opinions on what that means, but this
is something that I've read and I think that this would be the
closest to what I truly believe it means. It says, I've not seen
the righteous nor his seed, that is surely meaning those of his
children who were born of God. spiritual seed that God Almighty
has regenerated. I've never seen the righteous
or those made so like Him forsaken or begging bread. Now, here's
another one. You know, I got to thinking. David said, I've never seen the
righteous nor his seed begging bread."
What about Lazarus? What about blind Bartimaeus? What about the beggar at the
gate called Beautiful? What about that? Here's what
David was saying, I've never seen the righteous or his seed
begging and not being supplied. The bread of heaven. The truth
of Christ himself. Call upon me. I'll answer. Come unto me all you that labor
heavy laden. I will give you rest. All of us are beggars. All of
us are beggars. And David said, I'll tell you
something I've never seen. I've never seen one of the Lord's
call upon him for mercy and be forsaken. I've never seen it. He said, I will never leave thee. I'll never forsake thee. They've suffered some afflictions.
They've been persecuted of men. And they may even find themselves,
because of the body of sin within, finding themselves with the fears
of that unbelief. Listen to this verse, as I'm
winding up here, Psalm 71.9. Now here is David, and he's old. He's old. And I said a while
ago, I know what happens in businesses. You get old, and you get, you're
not as You're not youthful anymore. You're not strong anymore like
you used to be. And you want them to just cast
you aside. Listen to David, Psalm 71. Cast
me not off in the time of my old age. Forsake me not when
my strength faileth. Remember me telling you, Brother
Scott told me, he said, I prayed and know this for a fact. He
said, when I won't be able to even remember my name, the Lord
will. When I have absolutely come to
the end of myself, and I find myself seeing myself useless,
can't think like I used to, I find myself struggling, struggling
to study, struggling to find him. I said, you know, going
through my mind, I thought, it doesn't seem to come as quickly
as it used to. David said, don't cast me off
in the time of my old age. Last passage, Psalm 92. Psalm
92, verse 12 to 15. Listen to this blessed promise. Psalm 92 verse 12. The righteous shall flourish
like a palm tree. He shall grow like a cedar in
Lebanon. Those that be planted in the
house of the Lord shall flourish in the courts of our God. They
shall still bring forth fruit in old age. they shall be fat
and flourishing to show that the Lord is upright. He is my
rock and there is no unrighteousness in Him. For those of us that
are now feeling the aches and pains of the frailty of this
body, find ourselves that we can't
do what we used to. We find ourselves weary, tired,
tested, tried. We remember, we think back, and
this is the blessing of growing older in the Lord, in the Lord. He's never forsaken me. I've never, I've never begged
bread I've never begged of the bread of heaven. I've never asked
Him to have mercy and He didn't give it. Maybe it didn't come
the way I thought it would come. But truly all things work together
for good to them that love God, whoever called according to His
purpose. You that have now found yourselves growing older and
realizing the surety This life truly is a vapor. You know from
experience and divine revelation, the Lord's faithful. He's faithful. His mercy endureth forever. And
soon, very soon, we're going to see him no more by faith,
but by sight. Rejoice evermore. Your redemption
draweth nigh. May the Lord bless these words
to our heart for Christ's sake. Amen.