Isaiah chapter 46. I announced
this morning the title of my message, A Sermon for Aging Saints. While we were getting dressed
a little while ago, Shelba said, did you have me in mind? Well,
if you have to ask, I had you in mind. These four verses, Isaiah 46,
1 through 4, tell us two things. All gods will fail those who
trust them. All false gods will fail those
who trust them. And second, our great god will
never fail his people. Never. Let's read together. Bael
boweth down and Nebo stoopeth. Their idols were upon the beast
and upon the cattle. your carriages were heavy alone,
they were a burden to the weary beast. They stoop, they bow down
together, they could not deliver the burden, but themselves are
gone into captivity. Now this is the backdrop against
which God sets forth his glorious covenant faithfulness. All false
gods are failures, they are always a frustration and they bring
frustration to those who worship them or trust them in time of
need. Bel and Nebo were the gods of
the Babylonians. The picture here is that of Cyrus
as God had prophesied he would come into Babylon and would deliver
Israel carrying Babylon itself into captivity. When Cyrus came
in against the Babylonians Bell and Nebo, the people fleeing
from Cyrus, Bell and Nebo were gathered up and they were placed
in carriages and they were placed upon the beast of burden and
the cattle, and they were dragging these gods fleeing, dragging
their gods away from them. But the gods were such a cumbersome
thing, such a heavy, heavy weight, that the cattle bowed down beneath
the loaves, the carriages were heavy laden. And so the picture
is of a frustrated, helpless god, and a people who are frustrated
and helpless because their god is helpless. Bel and Nebo are,
Bel boweth down and Nebo stoopeth. These idols upon their beasts
are burning. Now these two gods, Bel and Nebo,
were esteemed to be such great deities that the kings of Babylon
named themselves after them and pretended to be their servants.
Bel, you find his name in Belshazzar. You remember Belshazzar? He is
the great king of Babylon. who found out in his pride and
arrogancy that his breath was in the hands of Almighty God.
And at the time of God speaking, Belshazzar went to his grave,
recognizing that God alone is God. Nebuchadnezzar, you find
Nebo in his name. Nebuchadnezzar was named after
the Babylonian god Nebo. But Nebuchadnezzar in Daniel
chapter four walked about his palace, fortunately looked out
and saw Babylon. this great Babylon that I have
built." And God spoke to him. He said, Nebuchadnezzar, you're
going to find out that the heavens rule. And before God got done
with it, Nebuchadnezzar became an insane man and dwelt in a
field like a wild beast until at last his understanding returned
to him. And he said, now I praise and
extol the king of heaven, all whose ways are truth and righteousness. Nebuchadnezzar and Belshazzar,
though they worshiped Baal and Nebo, though they claimed to
be the servants of Baal and Nebo, found out in time of need that
neither Baal nor Nebo could be of any benefit to them. And they
found out that only Jehovah is the Lord, the true and living
God. When Cyrus came against Babylon
by the commandment of God, Baal and Nebo together were altogether
helpless. Not only were they not able to
deliver Babylon, but the gods of Babylon were taken into captivity. So learn the lesson that's given
here. The lesson of Bel and Nebo. All false gods are useless and
they must fall. Everybody's got a god. Everybody
does. Everybody has some kind of god
at which they worship. Some kind of god whom they claim
to serve. And I'm telling you, all false
gods are worthless and will sooner or later prove themselves to
be worthless. As Baal and Nebo fell in that
day, so the gods of the heathen always fall. Now I'm not talking
about the gods of the heathen down in Africa. And I'm not talking
about the gods of the heathen over in New Guinea. I'm talking
about the gods of the heathen all around us. I'm talking about
every vain imagination that men set up in their own minds and
in their own hearts as God. It doesn't matter whether it's
a statue of Buddha or a false understanding of who God is.
All false gods are useless. And secondly, all false religion
must be proved to be useless as well. Babylon must fall. Sooner or later, Babylon will
demonstrate its uselessness to you. You read in the book of
Revelation, all the kings of the earth and the merchants of
the earth build everything around their notions concerning religion.
Read the book of God. All the political powers and
all the economic powers somehow or another had the feeling and
the understanding that they are serving God and serving religion
and their God and their religion has blessed them. But then Babylon
comes crushing down and all the kings of the earth wail because
they found out that religion is useless. Utterly useless in
time of need. And all confidence in a false
god. All confidence in false religion
must be destroyed. Our Lord speaks by the Apostle
and says that which must be shaken must be, that which can be shaken
must be shaken. And I'm telling you that the
Lord God through trials in this life, difficulties in this life,
through judgments in this life, shakes to the very foundation
the souls of men until everything that's useless falls around them
and nothing is left standing. but God and his truth. Nothing
but God and his truth. All right, now, read the next
part of our text. Here, the Lord God declares himself
to be faithful and true, and he alone is. He says, Harkonnen
to me, O house of Jacob. He's not talking to the Babylonians.
He's not talking to those who worship at the footstool of Baal
and Nebo. He's talking to the house of
Jacob, the sons of his election, the sons of his choice, the sons
of his grace, and all the remnant of the house of Israel, which
are born by me from the belly, which are carried from the womb.
And even to your old age, I am he. And even to whore hairs will
I carry you. I have made and I will bear. even I will carry and will deliver
you." Our God will never fail His people. We fail Him. Oh, how we fail
Him. But God fails. One of the hymn writers put it
this way, His sovereign mercy knows no end. His faithfulness
shall still endure, and those who on his word depend shall
find our God forever sure. He says, hearken unto me. That
is, God speaks to you and me, his children. You and me, his
children, like the children of Israel and of Judah, who are
now in captivity in Babylon, you and I who are here in this
world facing difficulty and trouble. He says, listen to me, hearken
unto me. I am he. He says, I've made you. I've made you. Listen to me,
my people. I made you. I am the God who
made you in the beginning. I gave you life and breath, but
more than that, I've made you new by my grace. I have made
you my people. I have made you righteous by
the imputation of righteousness to you. I have made you to be
my people, my sons and daughters. I've made you what you are by
my almighty grace. I've made you. You're the work
of my hands. Bob read it back there in the
office. We are his workmanship. Created in Christ Jesus, God
says, I made you. And then he says, I have carried
you. I carried you from the belly,
that is from your mother's womb. I carried you and I will carry
you into your old age. I have proved myself faithful
to you. He says, I carried you when you
came forth from your mother's womb. and I'm still carrying
it here. Oh, children of God, hear it,
hear it. The text here speaks of God's
prevenient grace. He carried us, Merle, long time
before we ever knew him. He carried us all the days of
our lives. He carried us in his hand. He
carried us under his protection. He created his angels to be ministering
spirits, to minister to those who should be the He carried
us from our mother's womb. He ordained where we would be
born and to whom. He ordained how we would be raised
in all the circumstances of our lives, and he ordained every
step of our lives, all the days of our lives, even when we were
rebels against him. He said, I carry you, and I will
continue to. He brought us to the place where
he had ordained that he would be gracious. He brought us to
that place that's described in Ezekiel 16 where we were tasked
out, but it was the time of love. And there he passed by and sprained
his skirt over us and caused us to bend. He said, I've carried
you. And he still continues to carry us. He says, I have carried
you. I've carried you from the belly.
I've carried you from the womb and even to old age. Even then
will I carry you. You see that? I'll carry you.
when holy hairs adorn your heads. I will carry you now and I will
carry you from now on. What he's saying is this, I'll
never leave you nor forsake you, never. Turn over to Hebrews chapter
13. Hold your hand here. Look at
this promise. It's given repeatedly through
the scriptures. The Lord God says in verse five, speaking
by the apostle, let your conversation be without covetousness. and
be content with such things as you have. For how on earth can
a man live like that? How on earth can anybody in this
world live without covetousness and be content? Listen to what
it says. For he hath said, I will never
leave thee. Nor forsake thee. Never. So that we may boldly
say, The Lord is my helper. I will not fear what man shall
do unto me, is I carry you, and I will continue to carry you,
and I will deliver you. He tells these people in Babylon,
I will bring you out of Babylon. I will bring you out of bondage
into liberty. I will bring you into your own
land again. I will bring you out of darkness
into light. I will bring you out of misery
into delight. He's telling us though, as he
speaks here, not just about the deliverance of Babylon, but about
our deliverance. And he says, I'll bring you.
I'll bring you out of captivity. I'll bring you into the land
of promise. I will bring you into heavenly
glory. I'll carriage you. I promise
you, I'll deliver you. In other words, the Lord says,
I've begun a good work in you and I'll continue to perform
it. I have brought you out of Egypt to bring you into my heavenly
kingdom. When God says, I will deliver
you, he means I will completely deliver you from all your enemies
and from all your sins and from all your sorrows and from all
your trials. I will deliver you. That's God's
promise. Now read verse four again. And
even to your old age, I am he. I and even to whore hairs will
I carry you. I have made and I will bear. Even I will carry and will deliver
you." Now this is a promise of God to his aging saints. Many a gray-haired child of God
has made a soft pillow for his aching head from this verse of
scripture. And yet as this is God's promise
to his saints in old age, it is God's promise to his saints
as they are aging, as they are coming into their years of maturity
and their years of stability. Indeed, it is a promise meant
to comfort God's saints at every stage of life. For here, God
promises to be faithful to his people, even to old age. Look at a text similar to it
in Psalm 48. Psalm 48. Verse 14, David began by saying, great
is the Lord and greatly to be praised. And he concludes the
psalm by saying, for this God is our God. This great God, this
is our God forever and ever. This is what I want to communicate
to you. This is our God, this great glorious God, he's our
God. forever and forever, he will
be our guide even unto death. You see? Now, having said all
of that, I want to speak a word specifically to you who are most
often neglected in our family, you who are most often overlooked.
I want to address our senior citizens in the kingdom of God.
you give me attention. I've got some things to say that
I believe will help us all. First, you who are aging saints,
you've seen many changes. You've seen a lot of changes.
A lot of changes. In your 60, 70, or 80 years,
what things you have seen go by? I think what changes I've
seen in my lifetime Most of them for the worse, some for the better. But my soul, Hubert sitting there,
he's lived for nine decades, nearly 90 years. My soul changes. I'll tell you something you've
never seen. You've never seen God change.
Not in religion. He has not changed. Oh, the religion
of the age has changed to accommodate men. And the preaching of the
age has changed to accommodate men. And the churches of the
age change continually to accommodate men. But God doesn't change.
He doesn't change. With those words, when God says,
I am He, He is speaking to His people. They sing, Bale fall,
and they sing, Nebo fall. But God says, I have not failed. I'm He. I'm He. I'm God. I do not change. I do not change. He's declaring
to us his immutability. He says, I'm the Lord. I change
not. I change not. Now you can carry
that just as far as you want to carry it. Just as far as you
want to carry it. And you haven't begun to get
to the edge of it yet. God says, I do not change period. Therefore, you sons of Jacob
are not consumed. The only reason you're not consumed. The only reason Babylon didn't
overwhelm you. The only reason your sins have
not overwhelmed you. The only reason you've not perished
under my wrath is I don't change. I don't change. I said Jacob
is mine. That means Jacob is mine. I said
I have redeemed you. That means I've redeemed you.
I said I have called you. That means I've called you. God
says I haven't changed. His word and his gospel have
never changed. God's truth abides forever. I recall several years ago I
was standing in a book room when I was in college. I was just
on a little break. The bookstore was right across
from where I worked and I was standing looking to see if they
had anything fit to read. Most religious bookstores don't
have anything fit to get, but maybe a Bible, that's about it.
But I was standing there thumbing through some books and a fellow
came in. And he saw what I was looking at, and he said, y'all
get that. That's why I was there. He said, oh, that'd bring your
doctrine up to date. So I just folded the book up,
put it back on the shelf. I said, I'm not interested in being up
to date. I think God's truth doesn't change. It does not change. His word abides the same. We
see men today perverting the scriptures, perverting the doctrine,
perverting the commandments. God's word doesn't change. It
just doesn't. One of our former presidents,
Mr. Carter, made the statement, he said, if the Apostle Paul
were writing the New Testament today, he would not write as
he did about the place that we're in. Well, you know, what kind of misdemeanor
concern is that? God's Word doesn't change. It doesn't matter what men think.
Or what men say, oh but preacher we're living in the 20th century.
God rules the 20th, he's still the God of the 20th century and
he hasn't changed. More than that, and far more
importantly as far as we're concerned in our present comfort, God's
love's not changed. His love is without beginning,
it is without cause, it is without change, it is without end. Aren't
you glad? It does not change. God's promises
are unaltered. What he promised you in the beginning,
what he promised you back yonder when you were 20, 25 years old,
what he promised you when you were just a young man making
your way in this world, he still promises you. His promises never
alter, never vary. And his faithfulness has never
wavered. Turn over to Psalm 37. Psalm
37. Psalmist David speaks, and he
speaks now as an old man, an old man. I like to listen to old men and
old women who know God speak. I try to pay attention to young
men and young women. They've got some things to say.
Well, I'm going to tell you something. I'll tell you something. You
let me find that old saying. got something to say, I want
to hear what he's got to say. Well, here's an old sentence. He'd
been walking with God for a long time. Listen to what it says
in verse 30 or verse 23. The steps of a good man are ordered
of the Lord, and he delighteth in his way. Though he fall, he
shall not be utterly cast down, for the Lord upholdeth him with
his hand. I've been young, now I'm old,
yet have I not seen the righteous forsaken, nor his seed making
fruit." Haven't seen it happen yet, have you? Have you? I see a lot of people up and
down the roads, had a lot come in the door here, try to help
when we can. They'll go about begging, send
their children up to the house, knock on the door, want you to
give them a meal, buy them some food, get them a motel room,
buy them some clothes. You know what I have yet to see? You know
what I have yet to see? About God. Haven't yet met one. This is what David says, I've
been young, and I've been old, and I've watched, but I've never
seen one of God's children forsaken of God. Never. Now that's what
God's people receive. For another thing, you who have
lived long in the grace of God have many peculiar memories,
many of them. Look at Alberta back there. I'm
telling you, you got some memories, I wish you'd share them with
God's people if you get an opportunity to. Share them. Share them with
the younger folks in the family of God. Say, nobody wants to
hear that? I do. I do. I want to hear the experience
of grace from God's people. Listen to what Isaiah says in
Isaiah chapter 50. You don't have to turn there,
but you just listen to this. Isaiah chapter 50 in verse 1,
51 in verse 1. Hearken to me, ye that follow
after righteousness, ye that seek the Lord, look unto the
rock which you are hewn, and the hole of the pit which you
dig. The Lord calls for us to look
back and to remember. To remember what He's done for
us. Again, in Ephesians 2, Bob, right back in the office, the
Lord said, remember in time past. Remember what you were. Remember
what God's done for you. And I say to you who have some
precious, delightful memories, you've been through some trials.
Hard, hard trials. You've been through some troubles. heavy, heavy burdens to carry. You've had some heartaches. You've
had some difficulties. You know what it is to have tears
burn down your cheeks. You know what it is to pace the
floor and seek God. You know what it is to be alone
with God. And you know what it is for God
to come to you and meet your needs. Be sure you bottle up
those things and you be sure you share them with God's people
as you have opportunity. Remember those special tokens
of love God's given you. I remember, I remember a few things happened,
some of them I can share with you, some I can't, publicly. A few months after Hubert's first
wife died, Louise, or about a visit with him, you may not remember
this, I remember. I got ready to leave and we chatted
a little bit. He said to me, he said, this
is the hardest thing I've ever had to do in my life. I said,
what are you talking about? He said, live by myself. Just
be alone. Alone. And share with God's people how
God meets the need. Share it. You go through difficulties
and trials. You go through them so that God
gives you opportunity to minister to folks who come along after
you. You have heartaches, and God gives you comfort, and God
sustains you. When you have somebody else come
along and go through the difficulty, carry your memories over there
with you, Bob, and help them. Help them through the trial.
That's the reason he gives us those things. As parents, we
take our children and we try our best. to lead
them, to guide them, and instruct them. And what we want more than
anything else, in just a natural sense, what we want more than
anything else, oh honey, I want to keep you from having to endure
the difficulties I've brought on myself. If you'll just listen,
if you'll just listen, I know something about what I'm talking
about. Isn't that right, Adam? You take your son and daughter and
you just keep them from some of the pains you caused yourself.
Just listen for just a little bit. And this is what we ought
to do with God's people. Come on, brother. Let me tell
you, I walked in that path. Let me tell you what I did. Let
me tell you how I suffered for it. Let me tell you a better
way. That's what I'm saying. Share the memories God's given
you. Both of your difficulties, grace,
trials, oh what trials you've passed through, but how God's
preserved you. What temptations you've faced,
but how God has delivered you. What falls you've experienced, but how God has restored you. How many you have seen make shipwreck
of their own soul? I watch things happening around
me. I see folks making shipwreck of their souls. And I weep. And I plead with God for them.
And I come here and I try to give you direction, try to guide
you, try to inspire you, try to motivate you. But still I
see so many. And some of you have seen, you've
been around longer than I have, you've seen a lot more than I
have. I've seen so many. from Christ, the gospel of his grace, and the pattern never varies. I mean never. It never varies. Mark him, step one, step two,
step three, step four, goodbye. It never, never varies. Never. Now you who've seen it, You encourage
the wayward whose knees are trembling, whose hands are hanging down,
whose feet are stepping out of the way. That's what you're here
for. All your memories prove again and again God's immutability. Do they not? You're here tonight worshiping God. In spite of the
trials, in spite of the heartaches, in spite of the troubles, in
spite of your weaknesses, in spite of your falls, because
God never changes. He does not change. He's faithful. That's the only reason. That's
the only reason. Benji Campbell, sitting back
there, one of the most stalwart men I've ever met in my life.
Just rugged dependability. I admire that. but it calls me
to admire your God, our God. The reason we are what we are
is all together God's grace, that's all, nothing else. And as God has not changed, our
hope in Christ has not changed. It's grown, but it's not changed.
We're saved by hope. And the ground of our hope is
Christ. Not our works, not our faithfulness,
just Christ. Let me read something to you.
I've given it to you before and you'll probably hear it again.
John Gill on his deathbed wrote to his nephew. Now, some of you
may not realize who Mr. Gill was. He's just a sinner
saved by grace. The one that God used, by the
way. He's the only man in history, to my knowledge, to have written
a commentary on the whole Bible. Not only did he write a commentary
on every verse in the scriptures, Old Testament and New, he wrote
a body divinity, which in my opinion is the best there is
anywhere at any time. He wrote many, many tracts and
sermons and so on. He was mightily used of God and
his generation, oh, 250 years ago, to stem the tide of Unitarianism
in Britain, and thereby preserving not only the witness of the gospel
there, but here as well. Just before he died, This faithful
servant of God wrote this letter to his nephew, and in it he gave
this testimony. I depend wholly and alone upon
the free, sovereign, eternal, unchangeable love of God, the
firm and everlasting covenant of grace, and my interest in
the persons of the sacred Trinity for my whole salvation, not upon
any righteousness of my own. nor anything in me or done by
me, even under the influences of the Holy Spirit. Not upon
any services of mine which I had been assisted to perform for
the good of the church do I depend, but upon my interest in the persons
of the Trinity, the free grace of God, and the blessings of
grace streaming to me through the blood and righteousness of
Christ as the ground of my hope. These are no new things to me.
But what I have been long acquainted with, and what I can live and
die by, is that I apprehend that I shall not be long here, but
this you may tell to any of my friends." Then to one of his
friends, standing at his bed, he said, I have nothing to make
me uneasy. I have nothing to make me uneasy.
My hope, what is my hope? Jesus Christ alone, for which
we hope. is ultimate conformity to Jesus
Christ the Lord. Will you make it your business
to inspire others with hope? In old age, God's saints had
peculiar needs for which our faithful God makes abundant provision. Earthly cares get fewer as you
get older. I remember Harold Allen back
there saying to me one time years ago, Nancy first found out she
had cancer. He said, Don, you get older and
you just realize all things that were so important when you were
younger is not important anymore. Remember that? It's not important
anymore. Well, earthly cares become fewer. Material cares probably become
fewer simply because the family's gone. The children are all out
on their own. They're making it all right.
They don't need you anymore. They can take care of their grandkids.
Business cares are greatly curtailed, but still you have to get more
grace. Your body gets weak and infirm. For a working man who's been
active all his life, They're not much more difficult to bear
than just the body won't carry anymore. It just won't continue
anymore. But grace makes amends for departed
youth. The mind gets weaker. The memory
is less retentive. The imagination is less vivid.
My soul. I ain't half Hubert's age. I've had a lot of experience
with that. I start to get up, I said to somebody the other
day, I want to get something off the bookshelf and I'll get
up and walk over to the bookshelf and I'll scratch my head and
stand there for a minute and think, what on earth did I come over here
for? I know I've got it for some reason, but I just can't remember.
The mind slips away. But I'm going to tell you something. The doctrines of the gospel become
sweeter and sweeter and sweeter and sweeter. These things are more precious
to me than ever. Personal election in Christ. I'm His because He
chose me. Effectual redemption. Jesus Christ
has redeemed me with His blood. The blessed call of the Spirit. Called with a heavenly calling.
Called with a calling that continues to this day drawing me to Christ
the Redeemer. and divine preservation, kept
by the power of his grace. Death seems nearer, but that's
all right, that means heaven's nearer. Paul said, now is our
salvation nearer than when we believed. Examination becomes
more intense, more imperative than ever. I said he was past weak talking
to a young man And he asked me a question, and
I said, if I'm a child of God. And he said, what? I said, if
I am a child of God. And I went on to answer his question. He said, how can you say that?
I said, I take nothing for granted. I never make an absolute assumption
of things. I recognize there have been many
deceived before me. And I understand that examination
is imperative. It's imperative. And yet peace and assurance are
not quite so hard to find. They're not quite so far out
of reach. I'll tell you why. I'll tell you why. Because your
faith is more singular. More steadfast. More directed
to one thing. And that one thing is the only
object of faith. Jesus Christ the Lord. When I
was a younger man, I had a lot more struggles than I have now.
I used to read the Puritans. I read Mr. Boston's Human Nature
and His Fourfold Estate. And I scratched my head and searched
my heart all the way through the thing. And I came out at
the end of the book more confused than I was when I started the
thing. And I was constantly downcast because I flat don't measure
up to what I know I ought to be. But I was looking in the
wrong place for peace. I was looking in the wrong place
for assurance. I was looking to God. I was looking
in here for some peace with God, for some assurance that I am
indeed God's child. Some evidence that would make
me to think certainly this is what God's children are to me.
And trying to be honest with myself, I had none. I couldn't
find any. Because I don't love you like
I ought to. I do love you, but my love is
not what it ought to be. I don't believe God like ought to believe
him. I believe him, but not like ought to. I strive after faithfulness,
but my soul, the outward faithfulness is easy. That's easy. I don't
have any problem with that. Since I was 17 years old, I haven't
missed a worship service in the house of God and gathering with
God's saints. I haven't missed any. I haven't
missed one. Sunday morning, Sunday night, Tuesday night, Wednesday
night. I'm going to meet them Saturday morning at 3 o'clock.
If that's when they met, that's when I was there. I haven't missed
one. But the outward faithfulness is easy. That's easy. That's
no trouble. All you do is adjust your life.
Oh, my soul. The unfaithfulness of heart.
The unfaithfulness of spirit attitude. And as long as you
keep looking in here for peace, you're not going to have any.
But as you grow in grace James, your faith is more singular and
you learn that Christ is indeed all. Have you learned that yet? Have you learned that yet? Christ
is indeed all. What's my peace? What's my assurance?
By what right do I hope to stand before God in heavenly glory?
On what grounds do I hope for God to accept me? Only this,
Jesus Christ. That's all. That's it. You who
are seniors in age and in faith have distinct, peculiar blessedness,
which I hope you'll convey to others as well. Experience reads the promises
of God clearly. When Peter was standing on the
day of Pentecost, and he had experienced what God promised
in Joel chapter 2, I mean he had experienced. Folks came around
and said, this is what's happening. Somebody else said, no, this
is what's happening. Somebody said, no, this is what's happening. Peter said,
wait a minute, fellas. This is what Joel said is going to happen.
And by experience, you can go back and read what God said.
Let's see it right there. Right there. Now, let's see if
you've experienced this. I just happened to turn to it.
A little that a righteous man hath is better than the riches
of many women. I've been around long enough,
I tell you. That's right. That's right. Experience. Experience in grace. is the best
teacher of grace. Experience seldom wavers in doctrine. I've seen lots of young fellas
go here, go there, look for this, look for that. Men of old fellas,
they're just as firm as the rock that you brought them. I have
a, I started to say had, but I have. a dear friend in glory,
Brother Elmer Harrell. He was a deacon at the church
at Lookout, a dear friend of mine. He couldn't read at all. I mean, literally couldn't read
at all. He had a second grade education.
Went to work out in Oklahoma picking cotton when he was eight
years old. Tried to support himself. But God taught him the gospel
of His grace when Elmer was Oh, he must have been dead in life,
45, 50 years old. And God taught it to him. I mean,
he got it. And folks would come along, and
they'd say this, and they'd teach that, and they'd leave this thing,
and they'd imply that. Elmer always did. He just stayed
right here. That's right. I mean, never gave
consideration to anything. Well, he wasn't very smart. He's
the smartest fellow around. He knew God's truth, and he stayed
by it. Experience makes people gracious.
It makes gracious people more gracious. Someone made this statement,
men like peaches and pears grow sweet a little while before they
begin to decay. Ever notice that with old folks?
They start to get old and they're just as sweet and nice and then
they begin to rot. and they get plum crabby. I mean
just hard to get along with. Now listen to me. I know doctors
got all kinds of excuses for it, but believing men and women
grow sweeter as their bodies decay. They do. They do. I've seen it. I've seen
it. The nearer folks get to heaven,
the more heavenly they are. I don't have any question about
that. Now, you who are my older brothers
and sisters in Christ, you have some distinct and peculiar responsibilities
in the family of God. Turn to Titus chapter 2 for just
a second. Titus chapter 2. The tendency is when you get
older, say, well, I've done my part now, let the younger folks
take over. And God forgive us if we make
this implication. Nobody down there needs my help.
Nobody wants any input from me. You're mistaken. You're mistaken. Paul says, speak thou the things
which become sound doctrine. That the aged men, aged men,
that's talking about a good many of us. a good many of them. It's
not talking about Lindsey's boy Michael just turned 18 this morning.
That's not what we're talking about. We're talking about aged
men. Folks who've been around a while.
That they be sober, grave, temperate, sound in faith, in charity, in
patience. The old women, the aged women
likewise, that they be in behavior as becometh holiness. not false
accusers, not drunks, given to much wine, teachers of good things,
that they may teach the young women to be sober, to love their
husbands and to love their children, to be discreet, chase keepers
at home, good, obedient to their husbands, that the word of God
be not blasphemed." Now, you have some peculiar responsibilities.
See that you give faithful testimony to God. that you do that. Speak well of God's goodness
and His law, His immutability and His faithfulness. Speak well
of God's truth and comfort your brethren who are in the thick
of the battle. Assure those who are struggling
of God's faithfulness and of the sure triumph of faith and
warn the wayward. Hubert, in your years, you don't need to answer, but
how many men and women do you suppose you have seen start off
well, and make a good profession, and run well for a while, and
after a while, somehow, something happens, and they're gone? How
many have you seen? If you see that in me, do me
a favor and warn me, because I've seen that the whole time.
I've seen it before. Well, you ought not do that. Oh, please do. You see, warnings
come with tenfold power when they come from agents. Somebody
who's been around, and they've listened, and they've watched,
and they've seen. They come with tenfold power. Brother Mahan's
been pastoring down at Ashland for, let me see, forty, forty-two,
forty-three years. Now, if a young fella, Brother
David Fletcher's boy, Jonathan, sticks with him to assume a pastor,
perhaps, if Jonathan were to give me some advice on pastoring,
frankly, I probably wouldn't pay much attention to it. I'd
kind of be nice, you know, and I'd say, well, thank you. I appreciate
your kindness and appreciate your thoughtfulness. But I have
been around the bend a time or two more than you have. I'll
just go on doing it like I've been doing it. But if Brother
Mayhem says, now, Don, let me tell you what I've experienced.
I'm all ears. I'm all ears. He's a faithful
man with experience. And I may not just do things
because he says do it, but I'm going to pay attention to it
because he says it. I'm going to pay attention to them, and
I'm going to pay attention to you. If you speak, I'm going to pay
attention to you. Alberta Bugs, isn't that there? If you speak,
I'm going to pay attention to you. They've been around a while.
They've been around a while, demonstrating some faithfulness
in the kingdom of God. That doesn't mean that they're
infallible, but it does mean they're worthy of honor and worthy
of being heard. Worthy of honor and worthy of
being heard. Now, let me give one word of instruction to you
who are my younger brothers and sisters. I don't much look like it, but
I'm still among them. We were down at Shoney's last
Tuesday morning to have breakfast, and that girl, those two girls
standing over there, and Shelby and Faith got a big charge. They
overheard them discussing whether or not they ought to ask me if
I should get a senior citizen's discount. But I'm still among the youngest
then, and I've got a word or two for us. Make certain that
you don't neglect God's aging saints. Don't do it. Don't do it. Pray for them. Visit them. Visit them. When
you, uh, when you ask him, make him plans for dinner, and you
say, uh, boy, I believe I'll ask so-and-so, let's see if we
can go out for dinner today. Rather than asking the young
fellows who always there, invite somebody older. Do your good,
spend some time with them. You'll profit by it. Listen to
them and serve them. It's what the kingdom of God
is all about. Serving one another, ministering
to one another for the glory of Christ. Well, I hope that's
helpful. I hope it benefits us and I hope
we'll obey him.