I almost called Brother Larry
and had him to read this passage for me, because it has some of
those names. And I don't know why I give myself to studying
these names, because if I pronounced them right, you're not going
to remember them. But that's a blessing. If I pronounce
them wrong, you're not going to remember them either. Here's the death of Abraham.
We looked a few weeks ago at the death of Sarah, and now here's
the death of Abraham. In Genesis chapter 25, we begin
there in verse 1. Then again, Abraham took a wife.
Sarah has died, and Abraham took a wife, and her name was Keturah. And she bore him Zimran, and
Joktan, and Midan, and Midian, and Ishbak, and Shuah, and Jokshan,
Begait, Sheba, and Dedan, and the sons of Dedan were Asheron,
and let Oshurim and Leogam." Now that's tough to pronounce.
That's tough to pronounce. Being a hillbilly, that's tough
to pronounce. There's not a Hebrew bone in
my body. All these were the children of Keturah. In verse 5, Abraham
gave all that he had unto Isaac, but unto the sons of the concubines
That is, Hagar, she was a concubine, and Keturah, she was a concubine,
she was Abraham's wife. All the sons of the concubines
which Abraham had, Abraham gave gifts and sent them away from
Isaac, his son, while he yet lived. He sent them eastward
into the east country. And these are the days of the
years of Abraham's life which he lived, and hundred, threescore,
and fifteen years, a hundred and seventy-five years. Then
Abraham gave up the ghost and died in a good old age, an old
man and full of years, and was gathered to his people. And his
sons Isaac and Ishmael buried him in the cave of Machpelah
in the field of Ephraim of Zohar the Hittite, which is before
memory." Now this is a strange thing here because we are told
that Abraham took a wife after Sarah had died. And what's so
strange about this, that he took a wife and lived for 38 years
and begot six sons. He had six sons. And what's so
strange about this in the 21st chapter in verse 7, and you'll
remember this when I quote it to you, is where Sarah, after
she had Isaac, She said, I begotten Abraham a son in his old age. And he was 100 then. And the
miraculous thing about that, not only that Sarah's womb was
dead when she was 90, but Abraham was an old man. He was 100 years
old. And he considered not his own
body now dead. That's when he was 100 years
old. But here he is now. Here he is. He's 137 years old. He remarries, and he has six
more children. And he dies at age 175 years
of age. Now that's sort of a miracle,
ain't it? Because he was called an old
man at 100, and he considered not his own body
now dead, that it was a miracle that he had a son at 100. But
here he is, he's married again and has six more children. But
one of the things the Lord promised Abraham, and look back here in
the 15th chapter, probably 70 or 80 years before this, the
Lord had promised Abraham something concerning his age. Look in the
15th chapter and look in verse 15, when the Lord had promised Abraham
that his seed would inherit the land of Canaan and then be in
bondage for 430 years. In verse 15 of Genesis chapter
15, this is probably 75 or 80 years before Abraham's death,
and look what the Lord said to him. And thou shalt go to thy
fathers in peace, and thou shalt be buried in a good old age. And then we come back here to
chapter 25 in my text, and it says, Abraham gave up the ghost
and died in a good old age. Now God's promises are sure,
aren't they? I don't know if Abraham remembered that or not,
but God remembered it. And you know, ain't that the
main thing? We may forget the promises of the Lord, and if
we do, we'll live a sad life. We'll probably live doubtful.
But I tell you, it doesn't matter in the long run. If we forget
them, He's not going to forget them. He's not going to forget
them. And He told Abraham a long, long time before he died, you're
going to live to have a good old age. And here he is, dying
at a good old age. A good old age. And he brought
forth fruit in his old age. Remarried and had six children
in 38 years. Now here's what I want to learn
from this, and I just want to learn some practical lessons
from this this evening. And the first thing is this.
It's the Lord that determines our age. You shall die in a good
old age. You may go through a war. You
may go through famines. You may see cities destroyed
before your eyes. And you may suffer severe trials.
But this one thing I promise you, Abraham, you're going to
live to be a good old age. Now, I believe, brothers and
sisters, we ought to eat right. We ought to drink right. Get
plenty of exercise. I'm all for that. Take care of
yourself. But in the long run, who determines
how long a person lives? That's the Lord, ain't it? It's
the Lord that does that. Abraham's brother, Haran, he
died a hundred years before Abraham did. A brother of Abraham, a
young man, but he died. What's the difference? The Lord's
promise. The Lord determines how long
a man will live and how long he'll die. That's the first thing
I saw in this. And the second thing is this.
Our physical health, our strength, our vitality, our stamina is
upheld by the Lord. The health you and I enjoy is
given to us of the Lord. Now I want you to turn over here
in the New Testament in 3 John. Here's what John prayed for and
wished for for his dear friend Gaius. Look over here in 3 John, in verse 1, look at this. Now I imagine when you read this,
you probably say, I know that these health and wealth preachers,
they emphasize this and they've twisted this. to get great gain
by it. And that's probably so, but it's
here in the Bible nevertheless, and I can learn something from
it. In 3 John 1, verse 1, The elder
unto the well-beloved Gaius, whom I love in the truth, Beloved,
I wish, this is my hope, this is my prayer, above all things,
that thou mayest prosper and be in good health even as thy
soul prospers." See what he prayed and see what he wished for his
dear brother. Just as your soul prospers, just
as your soul is in good health, your soul has been washed, you
are strong in the Lord and in the power of His might, your
soul is healthy in spiritual things. And he said, this is
my wish. that you would prosper in material
things and you would be in good health. That's what he prayed
for, that you would enjoy good health. Now, brothers and sisters,
it's not a sin to be sick. And it's not a sin to be poor.
But I don't want to be either one, do you? I don't wish that
on anybody, especially the dear children of God. I know what
it is to be sick. I know what it is to lay all
day or all night with a rag over my eyes, vomiting, and so weak
I can hardly get out of bed. I know what that is. And some
of you here, and we've got some in this congregation, one dear
lady friend of ours is not able to be here tonight because she's
so sick. I don't wish that on her. I don't
wish it on you folks. I don't wish you'd be poor. John
said, I wish you could prosper. It's not a sin to be poor. I remember when I was so poor,
if I went off to preach, I'd have to borrow somebody's car.
I've done that more than once. I don't wish that on anybody,
do you? And John was writing his brother, and he said, Brother,
above all things, this is what I wish for you. Just as your
soul is healthy and prosperous, I hope you prosper in the things
of this world. And I hope you prosper in your
health. I hope God gives you strength and health and help
in your body. And it's the Lord that gives
health, and it's the Lord that gives prosperity in temporal
things. Listen to these Scriptures as
I read them to you. Paul said, it's the Lord who
gives us rain from heaven and gives us fruitful seasons and
fills our hearts with food and gladness. When we think of fruitful
season, we think of people out here picking fruit off trees
or going out to the garden. You know what a fruitful season
is with us? When you've worked all week and you get a big paycheck.
That's what a fruitful season is. The fruitful season with
them when it rained and their crops produced and they got a
big paycheck. But who is it that gives prosperity? It's the Lord. It's the Lord. He giveth to all life and breath
and all things. He gives. He gives. Paul said
we have promise of this life and that life which is to come. He gives. Listen to these two
passages of Scripture. Moses was writing to the children
of Israel and he said, that thou shalt remember the Lord thy God,
for it is He that giveth thee power to get wealth." It's Him. Some of you brethren here, some
of you retired, but we can earnestly say this. I've been to Mexico,
and everybody here this evening probably is wealthy compared
to those dear people there in Mexico. You go down and see how
they live. You brethren that's retired are
drawing more money than those folks could ever imagine to see
in all their lifetime. That's wealth, ain't it? We are
wealthy. I don't want for a thing, do
you? Who gives us power to get that? Moses told the children of Israel,
don't you forget the Lord. And don't you forget this aspect
of Him. It's Him that gives you power. It's Him that gives you physical
strength. It's Him that gives you understanding,
intellect, knowledge, experience. It's Him that gives you whatever
you need to have what you've got, your wealth. And here's
what David said. He was praying in that great
prayer in 1 Chronicles 29, and he said, Lord, both riches and
honor come of thee. And you reign over all, and in
your hand is power and might, and in thine hand it is to make
great and to give strength unto all." He said, you give riches,
spiritual riches and temporal riches. You give strength, he
said, spiritual strength and physical strength. The Lord gives
it all, brothers and sisters. He gives everything we have.
The material things we have, the health that we have, it's
given to us. And you know, when we remember
that, you know what that produces in our hearts? It makes us careful
with our health. It makes us careful with our
finances and it makes us thankful because we know who gave it to
us. We know who gave us the power and the strength to get it and
to keep it and to keep it. Abraham lived to have a good
old age. Not only an old age, but a good
old age. Who gave that to him? The Lord
did. The Lord did. I'm 58 years old,
and I don't want anything right now financially, and I'm pretty
healthy. And for that, I bless my Lord in heaven. I owe it all
to Him. I owe it all to Him. And thirdly is this, and this
is a practical lesson from this. The Lord is able to restore health
that's been lost. I wonder sometimes as you read
the story about Abraham and Sarah. The scripture says that Sarah,
when she was 90 years old, she received strength to conceive. And I just wonder if she just
wasn't renewed. That's when Abraham said of her,
you're a beautiful woman at 90 years old. I want you to lie
and tell Abimelech's servants that you're my sister because
you're beautiful. Ninety years old. I just wonder if her health
wasn't renewed when she was ninety years old. She obtained strength.
And maybe Abraham too. I don't know. But I know this.
The Scripture teaches that there are people who have lost their
health and the Lord has restored their health to them. Do you
remember Hezekiah? Isaiah came to him and said,
the Lord said, put your house in order, you're going to die.
He had this big ball on him. I don't know if it was some kind
of cancer or infection or what it was. But he turned his head
to the wall and began to weep and pray to the Lord. And Isaiah
came back and said, the Lord's added 15 years on your life. And he recovered. He recovered. The Lord's position. Ain't that
what he called? Not just of the soul, but of
the body. What was Paul's friend's name?
Ephroditus, I think, was what Paul wrote to the church and
said that he was sick. He was Paul's fellow servant.
And Paul said he was sick nigh unto death. He's ready to die. They were ready to call in the
family. He's ready to die, Paul said. He's sick unto death. But
God had mercy on him and restored him to health. And he went off
to preaching again. I think I told you all about
the story. I never will forget this. I had a friend of mine.
He was older than I was. He's probably 80 years older
now. It's been 12 or 14 years ago. 16 now. But he had to retire
from me and him working together for years. And he had a heart
attack. And he was bad. I mean, they
told him. They told him, said, you better
stay in your house and just sit around. If you start exerting,
if you get excited, the doctor told him, he said, if you get
excited, you'll die. And I'd go visit him. There he'd
sit. There he'd sit. And he got so bad, I thought
the man had died. I actually thought he had died.
And I was out the hospital one day, and here come this feller
flying around the corner, and I was flying around this corner,
and there we met, right there in the corner. And I stared him
right in the face. I couldn't speak a word. I was
in shock. The first thing I said, Claude,
is that you? I thought you was dead. And I
thought he was dead. And we stood there and talked
a few minutes and on down the hall he went just as spry as
he could be. What happened? The Lord restores
people's health. Now He does. He can do that. When health is gone, He can restore
it. Listen to this scripture, and
I love this. Those that be planted in the house of the Lord shall
flourish in the courts of our God. They shall bring forth fruit
in their old age. They shall be fat and flourish. I mean, not only restore a person's
health, but let them live to be old And not only that, but
let him have a good old age and be fruitful. Yet not only that
Abraham was revitalized, man, look how fruitful he was in his
old age. And listen to this passage. Hearken
unto me, O house of Jacob, and all the remnant of the house
of Israel, which are born, my bee, you're born by me from the
belly, which are carried by me from the womb, even to your old
age I am he, and even to gray hair will I carry you, I have
made you, yea, I will bear you, even I will carry you and deliver
you." And to old age! I was talking with Todd Nyberg,
you know dear brother Todd, most of you probably don't know how
sick He's still sick, but he almost died a few years ago,
probably 15, 16 years ago now. But he was telling me they put
him in this room. He was there in intensive care. And they'd
called in the family. They didn't think he was going
to make it. And he told me he was laying
there in that room and all he could hear. Everything was quiet
with these machines. They had him hooked up to all
these machines around him. And he said he laid there to
share in these machines and he thought he was going to die.
He said, I got very apprehensive about dying and facing the Lord.
And he said, a verse of scripture came to him with so much power
and assurance. Blessed are they whose iniquities
are forgiven and whose sins are covered. Blessed is the man to
whom the Lord will not impute sin. And he said, I lay there
in peace and didn't care if I did die. But they came in a few days
later and said, this man has recovered, and look at him now.
Look at him now. They're tearing out walls to
put more pews in, so they can get more people in. And there's
little doubt in my mind, when they fill those pews up, they're
going to have to do something else. And they will fill them
up. He's bringing forth fruit. The Lord restored him to his
health, and has blessed him greatly. Who's done that? That's of the
Lord, brothers and sisters. That's of the Lord. How long
will a man live in this world? As long as God will carry him
and bear him up. That's how long he'll live. Mortals
are immortal here until their work is done. How long will a
man be fruitful even in his old age? He'll be fruitful. I've
often thought, Lord, I don't want to live to be decrepit.
I don't want to live to look repulsive. And maybe we won't
have to. Because it's Him that holds us
up and makes us fruitful in our old age. Paul was an old man. Paul the aged when he made some
of his best statements. You remember this statement?
I know whom I have believed. And I'm persuaded he's able to
keep that which I've committed to him. He's an old man when
he made that statement. You remember this one? The foundation
of God standeth sure, having this seal. The Lord knoweth them
that are His. He's an old man when he wrote
that. Remember this one? From a child thou hast known
the Holy Scriptures, which are able to make thee wise unto salvation. Old man when he wrote that. You
remember this one? At my first answer, no man stood
with me, but all men forsook me. Nevertheless, the Lord stood
with me and strengthened me, that by me the preaching may
be fully known. Oh, brothers and sisters, we
should take heart. We should take heart. Our health,
our well-being is in the hands of the Lord. We shouldn't give
up too quick. Maybe the Lord's got work for
us to do. And He'll keep us and He'll uphold
us until that work is done. And we may be in our old age
and still prospering and bringing forth fruit. Terence, how old
are you? Sixty-three. You may be ninety-three and still
bringing forth fruit. Ain't no sense giving up. Terence
is worried to death, afraid the rest of us are going to die off.
Aren't you clear? Don't you think about this sometimes?
These old people, we're going to live as long as the Lord will
bear us up. And we'll bring forth fruit as long as He'll bless
us to bring forth fruit. Abraham, you're going to live
to be a good old age. Not only an old age, but a good
old age. Look back here in our text again.
Something else we see. Look back here at this. Chapter
25 of Genesis. Having said all of that, let's
remember this. Look at this. Remember this. In verse 8. Then Abraham gave
up the ghost and died. Don't forget that. Don't forget
that. The Lord called Abraham. He justified
Abraham by the righteousness of someone else. He made him
rich in spiritual things and in temporal things. He carried
him to a good old age and made him fruitful, but none of these
things stayed the hand of death. I don't care how long we live
in this life or how good we live, we're going to die. It's appointed
unto men who wants to die, and after this, the judgment. And
whatever degree of health we enjoy and whatever degree of
ease and wealth we have, we're going to leave it all. And one
thing, brothers and sisters, is critical that we remember
is this. Prepare to meet our God. Prepare
to meet our God. Stay ready. The Scripture teaches
us to make our calling and election sure with God. Give our souls
no rest but as they rest in Jesus Christ the Lord. eat His flesh,
drink His blood, always be coming to Him, always be looking to
Him, and saying this with Paul, O that I may know Him and the
power of His resurrection." Always be pressing to the mark for the
prize of that high calling of God in Christ Jesus. Whether
we die young or whether we die old, whether we die poor or rich,
Whether we live with afflictions or live in good health, only one thing matters. In the
long run, only one thing matters. Am I in union with Jesus Christ?
Am I one with Him? Did I go to the cross with Him?
Did I go to the tomb with Him? Am I risen with Him? And am I
in Christ? That's all that's going to matter,
brothers and sisters. Everything that you and I have talked about
now has been good, but it pertains to this world, our health in
this world, our riches in this world. If we die outside Jesus
Christ, it don't matter how we've lived. It don't matter how long
we've lived. We're going to die. If Abraham
died, you and I will most assuredly die. Can we do with our Lord Jesus
as Abraham did to Isaac? Look at this in verse 5. And
Abraham gave all that he had unto Isaac. Everything he had,
he gave to Isaac. Can we do that with Christ? Can we do that with Him? You
know there is just one thing He requires of us. You say, Bruce,
what can I give him? Just one thing that he requires,
but he won't accept anything less. And you know what it is?
It's a heart. It's your heart. My son, give
me thine heart. And he won't accept anything
less. And when we give him our hearts, you know what we've given?
We've given him ourselves. You know what the heart is? It's
what you are down deep, deep inside of you. It's your intellect. It's your affection. It's your
will. That's what you are. And you
give it all to the Lord Jesus Christ. Now some people say,
I've given my heart to Christ, but they don't know what that
means. They think because they've said the sinner's prayer, they
equate that with giving their hearts to Christ. That's not
what this is talking about. Or when they walk an aisle to
a mourner's bench, they equate that with giving their hearts
to Christ. Or when they decide for Christ, they equate that
with giving the heart. You may do all of those things
and not give your heart to Christ. Giving your heart to Christ means
you've gave yourself to Him. You've gave yourself away. You've gave up on yourself. That's
the most difficult thing. I tell you what, that's one of
the things that kept me from coming to the Lord. I was willing
to give up just about everything but myself to be saved by Him. Spurgeon told the story one time
about an old lunatic. They had a house back in those
days and they put people in there that went insane. And somebody
was talking to this lunatic, and they were trying to talk
to him about spiritual things, and they said, Do you have a
soul? And he said, No, I don't have a soul. And the fellow said,
Everybody has a soul. He said, I don't have a soul.
He said, What are you talking about you don't have a soul?
He said, Well, I used to have a soul, but One day I realized
I was ready to lose it for all eternity. So I gave it to Jesus
Christ. And I don't have a soul anymore.
That's what it means to give your heart to Him. Paul said,
everything I am, everything I've done, everything I have, I've
counted the loss for Christ. And the Lord Jesus said, he that
saves his life shall lose it, but he that loses his life. How
do you lose your life? Just like that old lunatic did.
He gave it to Christ. He gave it to Christ. I am a
poor sinner and nothing at all. Jesus Christ is my all in all. I give myself to Him. If Christ
does not save me, I will not be saved. If I don't have the
life of Jesus Christ, then I'm dead in trespasses and sin. If
I'm not clothed in the righteousness of Jesus Christ, I stand naked
right now before God, because Christ's righteousness is all
I have. If I'm not accepted in Him, then I'm rejected, because
I've given myself up to Him. And Paul said he's able to keep
that which I've committed to Him. What did Paul commit to
Him? Everything. Everything. There are three things
that must be given to Christ. The Father leadeth the Son and
has given all things into His hands. God has given everything
up to Him. And then we give our hearts to
Him, which simply means everything. Ourselves. And then you know
what else is going to be given to Him? It may not be now, but
you and I know there is one day something is going to be given
to Him. And you know what that is? The glory. The glory. All of us are going to come and
bow, and we're going to say, Lord, not unto us, but unto Thy
Name, give glory. Give unto Him the glory due His
Name. Ain't that what you long to do?
It is, ain't it? I know that's what you long to
do. Give to Him the glory. And one last thing, and I'll
close with this, and then we'll be done for a while with Abraham.
Look here in verse 8 again. Look in verse 8. This is a wonderful thing. Then
Abraham gave up the ghost and died in a good old age, an old
man full of years, and was gathered to his people. You know what
that means. The same thing is said of Isaac. When he died, he was gathered
to his people. And the same thing was said of Jacob. When he died,
he was gathered to his people. And you know what this means.
This doesn't mean that Abraham was gathered in the grave with
his people. He was gathered in death with
his people. But this means Abraham was gathered
in another world with his people. Not the place of the dead, but
the place of the living. All of Abraham's relatives that
had died, all the way back to Adam and Eve and Abel and Noah,
and Methuselah, all the children of God that had died from Abraham
back, he was gathered with them in the land of the living. Ain't
that what the Master told us about Abraham? He was proving,
the Lord Jesus was proving, that believers never die. He that
believeth in me shall never die. He died physically, but Abraham
is much alive today. Jacob is much alive. Isaac is
much alive. And Moses was standing there
before that burning bush. And the Lord said, Take your
shoes off. He said, Who are you? And remember what the Lord answered
him, I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God
of Jacob. And the Lord Jesus interpreted that to mean this,
I am not the God of the dead, but of the living. All live unto
God. Abraham is not dead. Oh, he's
dead physically, but he's gathered with the living in heaven. He's
there in that kingdom. The Lord Jesus said they're going
to come from the east, west, north, and south, and they're
going to sit down. With who? Abraham, Isaac, and
Jacob in the kingdom of heaven. That's why Paul said, to live
is Christ and to die is gain. I want to depart this life and
go be with Christ." That's where Abraham went when he died. He
went to be with Christ. He went to be with His people.
When you die, dear child of God, your body goes back to the grave,
but you know where you'll go? You'll go to be with your people.
Those who believed in the same Christ and loved Him and died
in Him and went to be with Him. And when you die, you'll be gathered
there with them. And Paul said there was coming
a day when God shall descend from heaven, and those who sleep
in Jesus will God bring with Him." See where they are? You know the dead is in two places.
The dead is in two places. Those who die in Christ are in
two places. Paul said to be absent from the
body is to be present with the Lord. They're with the Lord.
But you know where else they are? They're in the dirt. They're
in the ground. And those which sleep there,
those bodies, the Lord is coming with their souls and He is going
to raise them. And the soul and the body is
going to be united together and glorified. And then Paul said,
we are all going to be gathered together unto Christ. 2 Thessalonians
2, verse 1. Gathered in Him. That is where
Abraham is right now. It is going to be a blessed thing.
It is going to be a blessed thing to die. There's no fear in death for
a child of God. You may fear it, but you shouldn't.
You're going to be gathered with your people. Wouldn't it be wonderful
to be free from sin? To worship like you desire to
worship your nebulous Abel? They're worshiping there. They
look upon His face there. And they're gathered. They're
gathered. And there will be no party there.
There will be no goodbyes. Just worship. Just watch it. And that's where Abraham went.
And dear child of God, that's where you'll go. That's where
you'll go. The Lord bless His Word.