Genesis 25. Let's read the first
six verses. Then again, Abraham took a wife,
and her name was Keturah. And she bare him Zimran, and
Jokshin, and Medan, and Midian, Ishbak, and Shua, and Jokshin-beget. Sheba and Dedan, the sons of
Dedan, were Asherim, and Latushim, and Liamim. sons of Midian, Epah
and Ephor and Hanak and Abida and Hildea. All these were the
children of Keturah. Abraham gave all that he had
unto Isaac. But unto the sons of the concubines
which Abraham had, Abraham gave gifts and sent them away from
Isaac his son while he yet lived. They sent them eastward unto
the east country. Here is a note that goes with
the last study we looked at when we looked at this, how the Lord
gave all to Isaac. You remember that Sunday. That's
a picture of how the Lord Jesus Christ is the heir, the Lord
over all. God has given all things to him,
all judgment, all people, everything. He is the Lord and owner, ruler
over all. And it says that Abraham had
other sons and grandsons. He had another wife named Keturah.
Concubines. I don't know who they were unless
Hagar is one of those. But he said in verse 6, He sent
them away. He gave them gifts. He gave everything
to Isaac, but He gave gifts to these sons of the concubines
and sent them away. While Isaac dwelt with Him forever.
Now the picture here, the type here is that only those in Christ have eternal life. They that
have the Son have life. Those that don't, it sends them
away. And the Lord, the rain falls
on the unjust as well as the just. The Lord gives all things
to all men and women. All breath, all life, all gifts,
everything, every good and perfect gift comes from above. And the
Lord gives freely to all men. And yet, if we're not found in
Christ, if we don't love the Son, He'll send us away. So that's a serious note, isn't
it? A serious note. But, he that
hath the Son is a joint heir with Christ. That whole thing. Alright, now, here's our story
this morning. And I meant to say those things
last Sunday, but there's just not enough time. But verses 7
through 10, these are the days of the years of Abraham's life,
which he lived, a hundred three-score and fifteen years. A hundred
and seventy-five years. But he calls them days, doesn't
he? These are the days. Abraham gave
up the ghosts and died in a good old age. An old man, full of
years, and was gathered to his people. And his sons, Isaac and
Ishmael, buried him in the cave of Mephila in the field of Ephraim,
the son of Zohar the Hittite, which is before Mamre, the field
which Abraham purchased of the sons of Heth. There was Abraham
buried and Sarah his wife." Abraham lived 175 years. This is a good
old age. He died an old man at a good old age. He was old, really, when God
called him. He was 75 years old. When he
had Isaac, he was 100 years old. Scripture says he was old. His body was dead. That's what
Scripture says, Galatians. But 37 years later, he had six
more children, sons, and grandsons. He wasn't dead, was he? No. Far from it. There are some things
I want us to learn here this morning for our learning, for
our instruction, for our admonition, for our comfort. Number one, it's never too old
for the Lord to save a person. No one is too old. Scripture
does warn us and exhort us Remember now thy Creator in the days of
thy youth, before the evil days come nigh." Old age. The Lord doesn't save. He just
doesn't save too many real old folks, does He? He just doesn't
do it. He just doesn't do it. He does
save some, though. Abraham was 75 years old, isn't
he? He was never too old. No one's
ever too old for the Lord to save them. They're not out of
reach. They're not so hardened in their sin that the Lord cannot...
His arm's not short. He's eight. With man, it's impossible.
But not with God. Mindy's grandmother was 70. How
old was she? Around 70 years old when the
Lord revealed Himself to her. And she lived a good old age.
Ninety-seven. And others too. Virgie was... Oh, was Virgie in her seventies? Anyway, she was an older woman
when the Lord revealed Himself to her. She was never too old.
Abraham was 75 years old, an idolater. People have been in
religion for years. You may have a mother or a sister
or somebody who is in religion And they're old now and you've
talked to them and you've given them CDs and tapes and they're
just steeped. They've just died in their religion. But there's hope as long as the
gospel is being preached. You're never too old to bear
fruit either. You don't stop bearing fruit when you get old. Abraham didn't. He didn't stop
bearing fruit. It looks like he bore more fruit
in his old age than he did in his youth. Alright, more about that in a
moment. But the first thing I want us to see here and that we learn
is the number of our years is with the Lord. Whether we live 40 years, my
brother lived 21 years. That's nothing, is it? My sister, 42, twice that. That's nothing. That's young,
isn't it? So young, 42. 50, 54. Your mother was 48? That's young, isn't it? 54, that's
Mindy's age, her mother. That's young, isn't it? 62. That's
young. 62 is pretty young to me. I'm almost there. 70 years, 80, 90, however many, 175 years. Who determines that? The days
of our years are determined. The number of our months are
with thee. This is what Scripture said.
Thou hast appointed his bounds, man's bounds, that he cannot
pass. We have so many years allotted
to us by the Lord. The Lord is the one who determines
this. Before the world began, our lives
were predestined. Now, there's real peace in that.
Real comfort. It's appointed unto man once
to die. The Lord has appointed the day
of our death, the hour, and the means. The Lord says, I kill. Now, there's real comfort there.
you know God, if you know Christ, if you have a good hope through
grace, you're going to die in peace, whatever it is. Now, we don't know how long.
We don't know when. It's a good thing we don't know
if we have tomorrow. It's a good thing. You know why?
We're all the same. If we think we've got ten more
years, what are we going to do? Procrastinate. Put it off. Whatever. We're supposed to live
for the day. We're supposed to live today. When the scripture says, this
is the day the Lord hath made, we will rejoice and be glad in it. This is the day. I have another
day. I woke up. I'm alive. What am I going to do with it?
The birds wake up singing. Rejoice. I'll rejoice in it and
be glad in it. This is the day the Lord has
made. Give me another day of mercy. His mercies are new every
morning. Then start singing. You'll make
the day better. You'll make your day better.
Live for the day. Today is the day of salvation. I had a bad day yesterday, you
may say. I had a bad night, a sleepless
night. But today, the gospel is being
preached. Oh, yesterday I just struggled.
I warred with my old flesh and this world, and I just feel rotten
and sinful. Today is the day of salvation. His mercy is anew. If you're
here, it's by the mercy of God. If you're hearing this and rejoicing
in the Word of God and need mercy, rejoice. It's a day of salvation. Your sins are gone. You trust
Christ? Forget yesterday. It's a new
day. That's good news, isn't it? Live
for the day. Live for the day. We'd appreciate
everything and everyone more if we did that, wouldn't we?
No, I've got a few more years. Hold on now. You don't know that. We'd treat people differently,
wouldn't we? Quarrels, if any man had a quarrel
against another. Oh, we'd be done with that, wouldn't
we, if we thought, this is my last. It's not worth it. Not worth it. Today. Today is
the day. Paul said, for me to live, For
this day for me to live is what? Crime. Crime. That would make
all these things so vain, wouldn't it? What am I pursuing? Redeem the time. Too many days
we have wasted, haven't we? Oh, my. Too many days. Abraham was promised a good old
age by the Lord. Look back at Genesis 15. Abraham this, that he would die
in a good old age. Chapter 15, verse 15, the Lord
said, Thou shalt go to thy fathers in peace. Boy, there's a blessed
promise, isn't there? You're going to die in peace.
You know, everyone that has the faith of Abraham has that blessed
promise. You're going to die in peace.
You're going to die in peace. You believe Abraham's God, you
believe You see Christ and rejoice in Him? You're going to die in
peace. I promise you that, the Lord
said. Thou shalt be buried in a good old age. Do you think
Abraham may have forgotten that? A lot of time went by after that,
didn't it? A lot of troubles. The Lord said
you're going to die a good old age. He promised that, but do you
reckon Abraham forgot that promise? You know he did. So do we. We forget the promises of God.
We get down. We get troubled. And we forget the blessed promises. We live according to promises. We walk by faith, not by sight. And we forget those promises.
And we get full of doubts and fears and despair. Troubles assail
us and sin assaults us. Abraham went through many things. He went through troubles in the
world. Troubles at home with Lot. Do
you remember that? All of this happened between
then and our story now. He went through wars. Do you
remember fighting the kings? Cheduleomer and all those kings.
And famine. And all of that. He was childless. You reckon he ever got to the
point where he wished he could die? I just wish I could die now.
He was about 115. Oh, I just wish I could die. You've got 60 more years. Don't
wish that. We all get that way, don't we?
Self-pity. And it's really selfish. I want
to leave here. I'll leave you with the sorrow.
You with the trouble. But I want to leave. Everybody
does that. The heathen, people in this world
that don't know God, don't know Christ, they want to die at times. Leave their troubles. But they
don't realize that their real trouble just begins. People commit
suicide, don't they, to get out of all their troubles. Oh my. What has God promised us? What has God promised us? He
said, As thy days, so shall thy strength be. Grace for today. Yes, you're
going to go through troubles. Yes, you're going to go through
sorrows. In this world, you shall have tribulation. But be of good
cheer. I've overcome the world. I've
promised you. He that liveth and believeth
in Me, you're never going to die. Has God promised us a good
old age? He's promised us eternity. A
good old age? He's promised us eternity. What could bother us? What could trouble us? In light
of eternity. Eternal rest. Eternal peace.
We forget that. No. We forget the promises. We
forget them. We start feeling sorry for ourselves. Now, what determines old age? I've already said this, but Abraham
lived to be an old man. What determined that? It wasn't
his morality, was it? He was a fine man. He was a believer. He was a good man, beginning
at 75. He was a godly man. He walked with God. He was a
friend of God. That's what God said. He walked with the Lord,
like Noah and Enoch and so forth. A moral man, an upright man,
like Job. Excused evil. So God gave him many years because,
no, no. No, he didn't have anything to
do with it. His diet. He had a good diet. He ate the right things. He didn't
eat certain things. I've read stories, and you have
too, of old people, and they ask them, why do you live so
long? These old fools. Ask the old fools why they live
so long. One man will say, lived a good
life. Lived a good life. And this and that and the other,
you know. Old fool. Ask another old fellow and he'll
say, shot a Jack Daniels every morning. Honestly. They say things
like that. People in this world think we'll
do this, we'll do that, we'll not do this, not do that, and
we'll live longer. No, you won't. Your quality of
life might be a little better if you don't abuse yourself,
but you're not going to live one hour longer than the Lord
has determined. That shouldn't, as I said, give
us a right to abuse ourselves, and we can sure make ourselves
miserable in the meantime. But it's not things, it's not
us, it's the Lord that determines our days. And this is what Hannah
said in her She said, Don't talk so exceedingly proudly. Let arrogancy
not come out of your mouth. The Lord killeth and maketh alive.
And David in 1 Chronicles said, Thou givest to men life and breath. And the Lord, he said, riches
and honor, all of this, the Lord gives all this to all His people. Life and breath, it's all in
His hands. And when the Lord says, the Lord
taketh away their breath, they're gone. But not a moment sooner
or later. Men and women before the flood
lived eight or nine hundred years, didn't they? After the flood, 120. The Lord
said, 120. My spirit shall not always strive
with man. 120 years. Abraham lived a long
life. Moses and Caleb The Scripture
says, and I always marvel at this, when they were 80 years
old, Caleb was 80 years old, it says his strength had not
diminished one bit. He was as strong at 80 years
old as he was at 20. Think about that. Why? The Lord did it. The Lord did it. If we're healthy,
the Lord did it. If we're wealthy, the Lord did
it. Promotion cometh not from the
east or the west, If not, if we're sick, the Lord
did. If we're poor, the Lord did. I, the Lord, do all these things,
He said. Don't attribute anything to anyone
or anything but the Lord. And Ecclesiastes, let me remind
you of this verse. It says, everything is vanity. Remember that? In the day of
prosperity, be joyful. Rejoice. Enjoy it. The Lord gives
us Richly all things to enjoy. But in the day of adversity,
consider, God did this. God set one over against the
other to the end that we won't find anything after that. We
have no continuing city here. Alright? So our days are determined,
our months are with the Lord. He has determined nothing and
no one determined our days with the Lord. There's a purpose. We're created. Our Creator made
us, regenerated, recreated a new creature. Like all things, God
has created all things for what? His glory. Most people live for themselves. God creates people and they live
for themselves. He said in Isaiah 1, I've raised
up children, that is, He gave them life, and they rebelled
against me. Abraham was one of God's chosen. He was a son of God. And the
sons of Abraham, the sons of God, children of Abraham, there's
a purpose for them. What is that purpose? Herein
is the Father glorified that we do what? Bear much fruit,
even in old age. even at old age. Fruit glorifies
God. We never outlive our usefulness
in the kingdom of God. Stay with me now. We never outlive
our usefulness in the kingdom of God. We may think so, but
we don't. When God is through with us,
it's over. Not until then. We can't will
it. So we must have some reason. Abraham, an old man. He's an
old man. Over in Psalm 92. Go over there,
Psalm 92. This is a good verse. Oh my, this is wonderful. Psalm
92. Go over there. Fruit. That's what we're talking
about. Fruit. Don't always be thinking
of fruit as something you do. What does Galatians say fruit
is? Galatians 5. Fruit. Is it doing? Love, joy, peace, gentleness,
goodness, faith. Love worketh, yes. Faith worketh,
yes. It's an attitude. It's a spirit. That's what it is. Fruit. You know, there's something about
fruit that the older it gets, the riper it gets, the what?
Sweeter. Sweeter. I don't like... I love peaches.
They're my favorite fruit. But I don't like green peaches. I don't like white peaches. I like yellow. But I don't like
young peaches. If it's too hard, I don't like
them. I don't like them at all. Too
firm? I like them old and soft and ripe. They're sweeter that
way. Well, that's a fruit we need
to grow old in. Love. Sweeter. If we're growing more sour, something's
wrong. Something's wrong. Psalm 92. Look at verse... Those that be planted, you want
to know who is going to bear fruit? Those that be planted
in the house of the Lord. The Lord is planting from seed.
They shall flourish in the courts of God. They may get rich out
in the world, but if they're not in the courts of God, they're
not going to bear real fruit from God. But they'll be even
old, verse 14, they shall still bring forth fruit in old age. Fat flourishes. Fruit in old
age. I mentioned Virgie. She always apologized to me in
her later years. She said, I can't do nothing.
I can't do nothing. I can't do nothing. I don't do
nothing. Well, I can't tell you what it meant to me to look over
there every single service, be it Sunday or Wednesday, and there
she sat. Faithful. Faithful. Just her
presence there was great. That's fruit, isn't it? Faithfulness.
Faithfulness. That's fruit. It meant so much
to me. Oh, how much that meant to me.
Her presence, it did more for me. It helped me more than those
who were in and out. It encouraged me. I've got to mention to you, I'm
sorry, but my dad preached for many years. He ceased to preach
publicly about three years ago. But those messages are still
heard all over the world. All over the world. Letters. I may get to this point where
I'm not able to preach anymore, and I'm sure I will feel useless
useless. But he still writes letters to
people, he still encourages other people, and I hear from people
all the time who say that your letters are invaluable to them,
that you just don't know what they mean to you. Is that true? Is that true? It sure is. His
presence here, it's hard to get up a six-inch step And he climbs his steps. And
there are people very healthy that have no reason to miss.
You don't see them. That's fruit. Let me be like
that. Let me be old and faithful. Let
me get sweet. Let me get sweet. You know, no
one outlives their usefulness. We don't want to. If we don't
want to be a burden to others, do it. None of us want to get
old and be a burden to others. And I'll tell you what, you will
not be. If you've been a help to others, they will never consider
you to be a burden to them. But on the contrary, now listen
to this for our admonition. If we have lived for ourselves,
we will probably die by ourselves. Abraham was 137 years old. It's
too late, isn't it? No, sir. It's not. You've got
38 more years. 38 more years to bear fruit.
Not too late. Here's a good prayer. Here's
a good prayer. And I often feel like that fig
tree. No fruit. Do you? Do you ever
feel like that fig tree don't bear any fruit? Here's a good
prayer. Lord, I'm an old, cumbersome
fig tree. Would You dung me and dig my
ears? That's what I'm hearing this
morning. And dung me. What is dung? What is dung? Is
it a pleasant thing? What is dung? Does it smell good? Do you want to be covered in
dung? We're going to have to get a
fresh sight and smell of ourselves. Our rottenness. And we'll quit
feeling sorry for ourselves and start thinking on things of others.
And start esteeming others better than ourselves. Not until then. Abraham. Abraham. Died in a good
old age. Look at verse 8 in our text.
It says he died in a good old age. He gave up the ghost. The
ghost right there is evident, proof, undeniable fact. We all have a ghost in us. That's
what Scripture calls it, soul, spirit. Clear evidence that man
is This is not it. We go somewhere. What this inner
man within us, and people that deny this, deny the resurrection,
deny life after this death, you know. What are you when you're
asleep? What's in dreams and all that?
You're asleep. Your body, everything ceases
to work. What's going on? It's a dream.
It's the ghosts. It's the soul. Gave up the ghost, he died at
a good old age, an old man full of years. He died. 175 years,
but he died. And we all are going to die. That's what we need to remember.
Back in Genesis 5, they lived 800 years. You know, all those
verses say, so-and-so lived 900 years, and he died. And so-and-so
lived 930, and he died. No matter how many years. And
the secret thought of men and women is that they'll live forever.
You and I know better, don't we? And by the grace of God, He's
taught us to think on the latter end. Oh, that they were wise. Consider the latter end. I'll
bet you those 175 years went by like that. I'll bet they went
by like that. I'll bet Abraham thought, well,
just yesterday I was 140. Just yesterday, I was 100. I
thought he was old then. If a man died, Job said, where
is it? If a man died, where is it? The soul goes back to God who gave
it. Where is it? Abraham died. Look at this. Oh,
this is wonderful. Full of years and was gathered
to his people. Doesn't say it buried him, that's
it. It's over. Gathered to his people. Gathered to his people. What
people? Living. Living. Sons of God. He was gathered
with Abel. Gathered with Enoch. Gathered
with Noah. His people. Sarah, who went before
him. If you have Abraham's faith,
if you believe Abraham's God, the God of Abraham, praise, we're
going to sing this morning. If you have Abraham's faith,
if you're called like Abraham by this gospel, you're going
to be gathered to God's people. You're going to be gathered with
the saints at the river. or gathered his people. Abraham
went home. Oh, he was a stranger and a pilgrim
here. He didn't leave his home and family. He didn't leave his
home and family. He went home to his family. Do
you understand that? He went home to his family. Why,
hello Abel. Hello Abraham. Hello Enoch. Hello Abraham. Scripture says
that all who have Abraham's faith, it says they'll come, God will
gather them from the north, south, east and the west, and they'll
all sit down with Abraham and Isaac and Jacob and Virgie and
Linda and Rebecca, God's people, going home. Now, who doesn't
want to do that? was gathered to his people. Whatever
it says in the Scripture, a man was gathered to his people. That
means he's one of the Lord's. He's one of the Lord's. Gathered
to his people. God's family. If you have Abraham's
faith, you will be too. And his sons honored him. Verse
9, those that knew him and loved him will honor him. He received
an honorable burial. And he was buried right where
his wife was buried. Verse 10, do you remember this?
Do you remember that message? The field Abraham purchased of
the sons of Heth, there was Abraham buried and Sarah his wife. That's
saying much more than he went home and was buried in the actual
burial plot with his family, although he was, which is scripture,
which is fine. Dad wants, and Mom, wants me
to take their bodies back to Kentucky. and buried them in
the cemetery there where his dad, his mom, his daughter, his
son, my mother-in-law, my father-in-law, all right there. My dad's dad,
mother, all there. That's fine. That's what we want
to do. But what this is speaking of,
is the purchased redemption that Jesus Christ, remember that,
how that Jesus Christ purchased our redemption with his own blood. He died that we might live. Remember the land, the burial
plots that Abraham purchased for his wife, you remember that?
That's a picture of how Christ came down here, didn't take on
Him the nature of angel, but the seed of Abraham. Was made
in all points like as we are, yet without sin. He came to die. And He purchased our redemption
by His blood. He was buried. We're going to
be buried. So He was buried. Like us. Like us. But He purchased our
redemption. But Abraham didn't die that day. He lived. He gathered with his
people like Sarah before him. And our Lord said, believe in
Me, you'll never die. I purchased your life. I purchased
your redemption. That hole in the ground is not
your home. Heaven is. Heaven is. So, so shall you. So shall you. You shall be gathered. to his people, too, if you believe
like Abraham believed.