The Time of My Departure

I feel that God impressed me
to bring this message tonight. I heard a preacher say one time
in reply, a person said, give us something to die by. He said,
you need something to live by too. And maybe that's the direction
that we're moving this evening. But this is a special hour tonight. We are coming to the end of another
year. in just about four hours, or
a little better than four hours, 1978 will be gone. About all that will be left of
it will be memories. It will no longer exist except
in our memories. The old year has just about passed
away. And if we're not sleeping with
our heads in the sand, we can learn from solemn hours such
as these. I think we ought to capitalize
on certain hours and certain directions in which people are
thinking at a given time, because as the days pass by, my life
passes as swiftly. I was talking to Ronnie before
we came in here tonight This year, Ronnie will be 45 years
old. When I met him and became his
spiritual teacher or preacher, he was 13 years old. Now, that's
hard to believe. It seems like yesterday that
Darcy and I came to Ashland as a newly married couple, and we've
just celebrated our 32nd wedding anniversary. It just seems like
yesterday to me. I don't know about you, but I
I just feel like that the days are passing so swiftly by. But
look at this past year, 1978. We just started writing it yesterday,
now we've got to learn to write 1979. And that's going to take
a while, and by the time you learn to write it, you'll start
writing 1980. And as the months pass by, my
life passes by, and as they come to an end, my life coming to
an end. It won't be very long. December the 31st. 1979. It's here. And when a few more
hours have passed, it'll be gone. And when a few more hours have
passed, I'll be gone. I'm here now, but December the
31st will be here for me before very long. Maybe this year, I
don't know. Turn to James chapter 4. James tells us that in the 4th
chapter. He says in James chapter 4, I
believe it's verse 13, He says, go to now ye that making big
plans about tomorrow. You say today or tomorrow we'll
go into such a city and we'll continue there a year and buy
and sell and get gain, whereas you know not what shall be on
the morrow, for what is your life? It is even a vapor. That's a fragile thing, isn't
it, that appears for a little time and then it banisheth away. The psalmist wrote, teach me,
and I need to learn this. I don't know whether I've learned
it or not. I suspect most of us haven't. Teach me to number
my days, not my decades or my years, but my days, that I may
apply my heart to wisdom. It is appointed unto men once
to die. This is an engagement I must
keep. I began January the 1st, 1978,
just a few hours ago, and now the whole year's gone. I've come
to the last day, and it's gone so swiftly by. And this is what
James is saying about our lives, that we haven't realized that
they're just passing by our days so swiftly, so quickly. Your
life is like a shadow, like a flower, like a vapor. It is so uncertain. Someday the silver cord will
break, some definite day it's going to break, and I know more
as now shall say. When my son Robbie was killed,
he's 21 years of age, and I was down at the funeral home, and
people make different comments. I know it's, I'm in the same
boat you are, and I don't know what to say at times like that.
I feel like that that words are so hollow and empty, they're
just words. But it was interesting what different
people had to say about that. But one dear lady came up to
me and she said, I'm sorry that your son's life was cut short. Well, if I believe anything,
I don't believe that. I don't believe his life was
cut short at all. I believe God gave him 21 years,
and that's how long he lived. Some people, God gives them 85
years, and that's how long they live. Some people, God gives
them 50 years, and that's how long they live. Some people,
God gives them one day, and that's how long they live. God sets
the bounds. There's a point in time and demand
on this earth. If you'll turn to Job 14, I'll
show you that. God sets the bounds of human
life. Our lives aren't cut short. Our
lives are short at the longest. Your life, I live to be 85. That's
a short time on this earth, especially as the years are passing now. In Job chapter 14, it says, Man
that is born of a woman is a few days and full of trouble. He
cometh forth like a flower and is cut down. He fleeth also as
a shadow and continueth not. And dost thou open thine eyes
upon such a one, and bringest me into judgment with thee? Who
can bring a clean thing out of an unclean, not one? Seeing his
days are determined, the number of his months, man's months,
are with thee, thou hast appointed his bounds that he cannot pass. This is true. This is true. The psalmist said the instrument
of death is already prepared for you and for me. The day of
our death, the instrument by which we shall die, the age when
we shall die, it's all set by the Lord. The number of our months
are with the Lord. So this is what I'm thinking
about as this year draws to a close. I'm thinking about the fact that
that our lives are drawing to a close. Some of us are nearer
than others, I'm sure, but no one knows who that is. Mr. Spurgeon died just five years
older than I am now, right in the midst of an active ministry,
right in the midst of a full schedule with an orphanage and
with a college and with a ministry there in London, a powerful ministry,
but God saw fit to take him when it pleased the Lord to take him.
And He's going to take you and He's going to take me when it
pleases Him to take us. And we submit to the will of
our Heavenly Father. But just remember that as we
come to the close of this year and it's gone so swiftly by,
every one of us are coming to the close of our lives. And who
knows when that last day will be. But here's another thing
I think about as I look back over this year that's gone so
swiftly by and the other years. of ministering here among you.
These years have brought many changes. They've brought changes
in our families. Our children, some of us, our
children have grown, most of them, and they've left home,
they've married or they've gone to school. Our parents are no
longer with us, and some of you, your husband or wife is no longer
with you. Some of you had good health a
year ago, but now it's not too good. Some of you have gone through
serious operations and you've sustained a certain amount of
weakness. There are changes in this congregation. Some who worshiped
with us a few years ago or even a year ago are not with us anymore. Some God has added new ones.
There have been changes, so many changes. The hymn writers put
it this way, swift to its close ebbs out life's little day. Earth's joys grow dim. Earth's
glories fade away. Change and decay in all around
I see. But He gives us a solution. If
you're just left there, you're in despair. Swift to its close
ebbs out life's little day. Earth's joys and happinesses
grow dim, and its glories pass away. Change in my body, in my
mind. in my family, in the congregation,
in my health, all change and decay in all around, I see. Here's the solution. O thou that
changes not, abide with me. Now, there's only one way to
accept change graciously and spiritually. There's only one
way to learn to live with changes, and that's to learn to live with
Him who changes not. Now that's true, that's the solution
there. Now these changes, some of you young people are sitting
there and you've got your babies in the nursery, you know, and
you've got all your responsibilities and your health. You don't know
what I'm talking about. But the thing that makes this
sermon so applicable is you will know what I'm talking about.
And it'll be a lot sooner than you think. You say, I don't understand anything
about the loss of a child. You will. I don't understand
anything about the loss of parents. You will. I don't know anything
about the loss of a loved one, a maid, a husband or a wife who's
so precious to me. I guarantee you, you will. I
don't know anything about a lonely house where there's nobody home
but me. You will. You see, all of these things
are applicable to every one of us. Because these changes occur
in God's own time for every one of his people. None can escape
it. The Scripture says there's no
discharge in this war. There's no discharge. It's a
continual battle. And it's not going to end until
God takes us home. And the only way, these changes
are coming. Some of you young men are sitting
there, you're as healthy as a two-month-old pig. But now you're not going
to be someday. And some of you have not a care
or worry in the world, or a burden to bear, but you will. I assure
you, in this world you shall have tribulation, our Lord said.
They who would live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution. And we who are in this particular
area, and we who are preparing for this particular area, and
we to whom it will come, we need to find the solution now, so
that when it comes, we'll be able to live with these changes
and live with them as a Christian, live with them as a believer,
live with them for the glory of God. That's what Cecil prayed
a moment ago, that we might walk, that we might talk, that we might
conduct ourselves, that in our attitude and in our conversation,
in our behavior, we might bring glory to our Lord. One of the greatest sins of Israel,
the sin that brought God's judgment and death upon them, was the
sin of murmuring and finding fault with God's providence.
And the solution is right here, O thou that changest not. Everything
changes except Christ. Of Christ, it is said, he is
the same yesterday, today, and forever. And he's the same in
his love for you. He'll never cease to love you,
having loved his own, having loved them. He said, I've drawn
you with an everlasting love. He loves you now and He's always
loved you. He loves you with unchanging love. He loves you
with an immutable love. He loves you with an infinite
love. He loves you with an everlasting love. He chose you because He
loves you. He died for you because He loves
you. He intercedes for you because
He loves you. And He's coming for you because
He loves you. And Christ Jesus never changes
in His love. The love of many may wax cold.
But the love of Christ is always the same. Always the same. And then he's the same in his
grace. Let me read this to you. You turn with me to Romans 11.
He's the same in his grace. He says in Romans 11, verse 29,
he says, "...for the gifts," and salvation is a gift, the
gift of God is eternal life, "...the gifts and calling of
God." are without repentance, without change. And he says over
here in Malachi 3, verse 6, I am the Lord, I change not. God is
the same in His purpose. He is the same in His grace.
He is the same in His love. He is the same yesterday, today,
and forever. And He never changes. And we
can find a foundation to build upon there. We can find a foundation
for hope, for trust, for confidence, for assurance on Him who never
changed. Now, if you build on this world,
if you put all of your hope in anything of the flesh or material
or physical, you're going to be disappointed. Put no confidence,
not some, not a little bit, no confidence in the flesh, because
it changes. But our Lord never changed. He
never changes in His presence. He says, I'll never leave you.
David wrote, if I ascend into heaven, thou art there. If I
take the wings of the morning and dwell in the uttermost parts
of the sea, even there shall thou hand hold me. If I descend
into the grave, thou art there. Whither shall I flee from thy
presence? I'll never leave you, he said. Somebody says, I'm so
alone. How can you be alone when the God of glory is with you?
How can your room be empty when he fills it? When his presence
is there, he's there. Our Lord promised, He said, Lo,
I'm with you always, even to the end of the earth. And my,
my, isn't that better to have a certain friend than an uncertain
friend? And then He's the same in His
purpose for you. He says everything's going to
work together for your good. That God may step into your home
and take out of your home the dearest jewel you have. But I'll
guarantee you, if you're his child, I can tell you this, and
like I say, when these traumatic experiences come into the lives
of God's people, all I know to say is this, if they believe
that God's on the throne, I can look at them and I can say, this
is for your good. It's for your good. Maybe not
for your present good or your temporal good, but it's for your
eternal good, and I can't explain it. The secret things of God,
he hasn't let me look into yet. But I can see the revealed things
and he tells me definitely that giving thanks, Jim read it while
ago in the study, give thanks for all things because this is
the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. I like what that preacher
said that preached down at the conference in Birmingham. He
had two sons and one of them was such a pride and joy and
one of them was such a heartache and grief. And he said he always
thanked God for that son that loved the gospel and with whom
he had such fellowship. And he said one day he and his
wife were riding along and she was reading the scripture in
1 Thessalonians 5, 18, where it says, giving thanks in all
things, for this is the will of God concerning you. He said,
I pulled off the side of the road and I said, hon, let's give
thanks for that wayward boy. We never have given thanks for
him. And he says, in everything give thanks. We've given thanks
for this boy that's such a blessing, now let's give thanks for this
one that has broken our heart, because God has used this instrument
some way for his glory and our good. Can you accept that? Whether
we can or not, it's so. And that's the only source of
comfort. It's the only source of any confidence or consolation,
is that when the door opens and darkness comes in, that God rules
over the darkness too. And joy cometh in the morning.
Joy cometh in the morning. It may take a while for joy to
come, but joy's coming in the morning. And He's coming, and
His reward is with Him, and He never changes in His purpose.
He never changes. And then He never changes in
His prayers. He says, I pray for you. Now you think about
that. I pray for you. You know, it's such a comfort
to know somebody's praying for you. But what about the God of
glory praying for you? The Lord Jesus Christ, Paul said,
ever liveth to make intercession for you. He's praying for me. Now that's the way, that's the
only way to accept changes spiritually and graciously and in such a
way as to bring glory to God and find some peace and joy and
comfort for ourselves, is that whatever takes place in my life,
it was ordered and purposed and planned and directed by the hand
of Him who loves me who delights in my good, who loves me and
who never changes in his purpose toward me, nor his grace toward
me, nor his presence with me, and though I walk through the
valley of the shadow of death, I'll fear no evil." Why? Because
I got a positive mental attitude? No, sir. Because I'm stronger
than the fellow next door? No, sir. Because thou art with
me. That's the only reason. You can't
bear it, you can't stand it, you can't endure it. I'll tell
you now, you can make all the resolutions you want to, I'm
determined, I'll grit my teeth, I'll tackle this conflict, you'll
fail, you'll be defeated, you'll go down in utter defeat, unless
he's with you. But if he's with you, you know,
he never changes. This was all ordered and planned
of him from the foundation of the world, known unto God all
his works from the beginning. He declares the end from the
beginning and from ancient times the things that are not yet done.
What's going to happen in my life and in the life of this
church and in your life next week has been ordered of the
Lord a long time ago. And we needn't get mad at second
causes. Sometimes we just get infuriated
with second causes. If that fellow hadn't have crossed
the center line and hit my car, it wouldn't have cost me so much.
God's the first cause of all things. No use getting mad at
Him. No use getting mad at second causes. No use getting upset
at second causes. If this hadn't, or if that hadn't,
if something else hadn't, well, God's, if He's your Lord, if
He's your Master, If he's your Lord in God, then he ordained
it, he's the first call. And you know, some of our greatest
problems and fears arise from the inability to deal with change. We know it's coming. We know
it's coming. God has told us and we know it
up here. But the reason we can't learn to deal with change, it's
our own fault. And that's what brings the fears,
and that's what brings the difficulties. Turn to John 14. I want you to
look at a couple of verses here in John 14, verse 1 through 6,
and then verse 18. Listen to this. Now, the Lord
was about to leave his disciples. He was about to leave them alone
as far as his presence, his physical presence. He was leaving them.
And they didn't know that he would be with them in spirit
and with them in their hearts and with them as they walked
away. But he was going to die and leave them. And he said to
them in John 14, they were troubled and upset and filled with sorrow.
He said, let not your heart be troubled. You believe in God,
believe also in me. In my Father's house are many
mansions. If it were not so, I would have
told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare
a place for you, I will come again and receive you unto myself,
that where I am there you may be also." Now look at verse 18.
I'll not leave you comfortless. I'll not leave you comfortless.
I will come to you. Our Lord gives His Holy Spirit
and the presence of His Spirit to strengthen and to comfort
and to meet our needs. Turn to Philippians 4.11. Philippians
4.11. Listen to this scripture. Philippians
4.11. The Apostle Paul says this, not that I speak in respect of
want, for I have learned in whatsoever state I am therewith to be content. All right, my Lord, now here's
where I am. These changes are coming, changes
in many ways, and I'll deal with some of them one at a time here. But they're coming, and I know
they are, and the day of my death is hastening near, and all of
these changes are going to occur. Now, I want to learn to, I want
to deal with them, I want to live with them in such a way
that God might get the glory and that I might enjoy His presence
and enjoy peace and joy and rest in the Lord. Now, the only way
I'm going to do this is to know that Christ never changes, that
His purpose and grace and presence and love and all these things
is the same. But Paul says here, I've got
to learn that. Joy is not going to just fly
in the window and lighten my heart and build a nest. I've
got to learn this. Now, if I can tonight, as the
minister of the gospel, if I can offer some counsel from God's
Word, some help, and help myself and you to learn to be content. I have learned, Paul said, to
be whatever state I am, to be content. All right, let's deal
with some of them. Here are about four or five.
They'll be applicable to many of you, and if not today, they
will tomorrow. So you file this back in your
mind and remember the message tonight. First of all, the house
in which you live, the home, used to be such a busy place,
didn't it? Children playing, laughing, many
duties to perform, breakfast to cook, supper to cook, Dad
up early, wood to cut, bring in, stock to feed, chores to
do in the yard, a job to go to, work all day, come in in the
evening, discussions to have with the family, bills to pay,
all of these things. And now it's a quiet place. The children are gone. The laughing,
the crowds coming in. About the only time the door
is open is to go out and get the paper, isn't it? Or go get the
mail or something like that. It's quiet around there. Change
has come. Maybe even your husband's not
there. Maybe you're there alone. Maybe your wife's not there.
I remember when my mother was living, my mother and father,
he always felt like he'd like to have some time alone. Always
said to me, he said, Sometimes I think if I just lived alone,
I'd be happy. Well, my mother passed away and
he was alone about a week and he wasn't happy. How do I deal
with this? How do I cope with this? This
change is sure and certain, but how do I, and some of you sitting
right here have the same, in the same situation. How do I
deal with it? There's a way, and that way is
right here, with Christ as my friend and my companion. and one who walks with me and
whose presence always is with me. These can be the most worthwhile
days you'll ever spend. They can be. You may not see
that now, but they can be. If you learn some things, these
could be. These days of quietness, these
days of time alone. You know, some of us, these are
the quiet hours we used to covet. These are the moments alone that
you used to think about. These are the days without the
heavy responsibilities that you used to long for. And now they're
here. But how do I cope with them?
Well, they can be worthwhile days with the presence of Christ.
These can be days of study and prayer, to read God's Word, to
pray, to read good books, These can be days of examination and
heart-searching, examining ourselves and our faith and our relationship
with the Lord. These can be days of special
correspondence and communication with friends. Instead of thinking
about how lonely I am, think about perhaps how lonely someone
else is and communicate with them. Take the time with the
telephone, with the pen, Maybe to go over and visit, but communicate
with a friend. You know, as an old song we used
to sing when I was growing up, look all around you, find someone
in need, help somebody today. Though it be little a neighborly
deed, help somebody today. It will make you whole day. And
you can use the whole day for that purpose, a day of communication,
a day of correspondence, a day of phoning, or sending a card,
or writing a letter, or just communicating with someone in
that way. Then these can be days of memories
and days of thanksgiving. Looking back, now the Scripture
tells us forgetting those things which are behind. I know there's
a certain forgetting, but also the Scripture admonishes us to
remember the pit from which we were digged. And think about
that. and think about the mercies of
God and give thanksgiving. These can be days of real fellowship
with the people of God in worship. You can build your whole life
around your spiritual relationship with the Lord. When these cares and responsibilities
of our families, our children are grown, they've got their
own homes and their own families. And we're not involved there.
We're not concerned with those problems. That's their problem.
Just like your parents were not concerned with your difficulties.
So let's transfer our anxiety and our care and our concern
from these things, about which we can do nothing, and put our
care and concern upon our relationship with God. Not our relationship
with human beings, but our relationship with the Lord. And these can
be days of Very worthwhile. The days of quietness and peace
and joy and communication and examination and study and prayer. There's so many things to fill
the hours in our relationship with God. Secondly, there comes
a day when your health is not as good as it used to be. Now,
this is something all of us are going to experience, and that
is the aches and pains of age. Turn to Ecclesiastes 12. Let
me show you something here that the wise man wrote. This is something
that's coming. Don't be alarmed by it. Don't
be discouraged by it. Don't be downcast because of
it. Don't fall into despair because
it's something we've got to give up. We've got to exchange good
health for poor health because this body's going to wear out.
God says that. He says over here In Ecclesiastes
chapter 12, ìRemember now thy Creator in the days of thy youth,
while the evil days come not, nor the years draw nigh, when
you shall say, I have no pleasure in them, while the sun or the
light of the moon or the stars be not darkened, or the clouds
return after the rain.î Verse 3, Ecclesiastes 12, ìIn the day
when the keepers of the house shall tremble,î thatís the arms,
you look at your hand and itís trembling, And you're not as
steady as you used to be. This is what's happening. It's
going to happen to all of us. And the strong men bow themselves.
That's the legs. They give out. The grinders cease
because they're few. That's the teeth. Those that
look out of the windows be darkened. That's the eyes. Your eyesight's
got to grow dim. The doors shall be shut in the
streets when the sound of the grinding is low. And you can't
sleep. You rise up at the voice of a
bird. and all the daughters of music shall be brought low, and
when thou shalt be afraid of that which is high, and fear
shall be in the way, and the almond tree shall flourish, that's
the hair gets white, and the grasshopper shall be a burden,
and desire shall fail, what's happening? Man's going to his
long home. But let me tell you this, and
I think we ought to put a certain amount of emphasis upon upon
taking care of our bodies. That's all well and good, but
don't overemphasize it. And don't get carried away with
health programs and neglect what is really important. Some of
these days you'll quit lifting weights and go to carrying other
people's burdens. We build up these physical bodies
only to watch them decay and deteriorate. What we need to
do is build up our hearts and our minds and our souls in the
things of God. And he says over in Jeremiah,
now listen to this in Jeremiah 9. Let me read you a scripture
over here. You can just listen if you want to. Thus saith the Lord.
Now, this thing of education. Some fellows just keep on going
to school, getting all the education they can, and we give ourselves
to help programs to build up our muscles and our strength
and these things. We take care to We spend hours
in front of the mirror, some of you ladies do, to make yourselves
pretty and keep yourselves pretty. And we do all these things and
we accumulate possessions. We work hard to build bigger
barns, you know. Listen, Jeremiah 9.23, Thus saith
the Lord God, Let not the wise man glory in his wisdom, neither
let the mighty man glory in his might or strength. Let not the
rich man glory in his riches, But let him that gloweth, glow
in this, that he understands and knows me, that I am the Lord,
which exercise lovingkindness, judgment, righteousness in the
earth. For in these things, not your strength and education and
intellect and riches and power, in these things, lovingkindness,
judgment, righteousness, in these things I delight, saith the Lord
God. And old and young need to hear
this, for health will fail. And now is the time to grow strong
in faith. Now is the time to grow strong
in patience. Now is the time to grow strong
in mercy and love and grace. And perhaps God has to take these
things away from us to get our concentration off of them. Maybe. It may be. that God takes our
health away sometimes so that we'll give more concern to our
spiritual welfare than to our physical bodies. And I've been
around folks that talk more about how many vitamins you're supposed
to take than the things of God. And all of these things about
this old body, this old house is rotting down, it's falling
down, I'm not going to live here too much longer. And there's
no use in investing everything I've got in this house when I'm
going to live in a building not made with hands, eternal in the
heavens. Where your treasure is, your heart will be. Seek
ye first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness, and if it's
God's will, all these things will be added to you. And I'll
tell you this, you can give all your time and effort and strength
and concentration to taking care of this health, and God can take
it away just like that. It's all in His hands anyway.
It's all in His hands. And when this occurs, when suddenly
I discover that I don't have the strength that I used to have,
then what should I do? Give my time and effort to building
another strength. Strength of heart, strength of
faith, strength of love, patience, mercy. All right, here's another.
And this is an area that is most difficult, I'm sure. I haven't
come to this place yet. Some of you have. And that's
the day when your importance in leadership and recognition
and decision-making comes to an end, and they retire you and
put you out to pasture. I imagine that that is pretty
difficult. There was a day when you made
the decisions. There was a day when you felt
needed. But you're not needed anymore
like you were then. Someone else makes the decisions.
Someone else does the work. You're not able to do it. You've
retired. And you just don't feel needed. You don't feel important. You're
not actively engaged in the things you were once actively engaged
in. Let me read a verse of Scripture that might help us here. Turn
to Jeremiah 45. Jeremiah 45. And maybe we can be helped by
realizing this right here. What I'm trying to do, I'm citing
the difficulties. These are areas where some of
you are living now and where all of us will. We'll come to
this time. You don't think so? Just a little while. Old 78 went
out, didn't it? Well, so are you, and so am I. It says here in Jeremiah 45,
verse 5, "...seekest thou great things for thyself? Seek them not. Behold, I will
bring evil upon all flesh, saith the Lord. But your life will
I give unto you, for I pray in all places whither thou goest."
What's he saying? He's saying that out of all this
ruin and rubble and rubbish of a destroyed world, I'll bring
you forth as a brand out of the burning. And all of these fleshly,
worldly, material decisions that we want to be in on the making,
they're not going to amount to anything. We want to decide about
a building that's going to be built, God's going to tear it
down. We want to decide about an organization that's going
to be formed and the work they're going to do, it's just temporary. God's going to bring it to naught.
There's not a thing in this world, not a decision to be made about
a fleshly, materialistic, physical, organization, building, or company,
or anything else. We're just playing games. And
it's all temporary. And these things are going to
come to nothing. And you seek great things for
thyself on this earth. Seek them not. They're not important. If we could just see that, that
these men out here in the business world that get up every morning
and go out and make decisions and sit at desks and sign checks
and hand them over, this is all just a game that's temporary.
And it'll all be done away. It'll all be shut down. But God
said, your life I'm going to bring out of it all. As a pre,
as a brand out of the burning, I'm going to bring forth you
out of all this. That's what's important. Let them play their games. Thank
God that you're not involved. Now here's an area here, and I don't know exactly how
to word this, because really, I got down two words, old age,
but I don't think that's the right word to use. Let's just say age, and let me
say this, let me word this right here and say this. And we need
to chasten ourselves, we need to correct ourselves and our
attitudes about growing older. Now maybe that's the best term.
We are allowing the thinking of this world to form our opinions
and our attitudes about growing older. But I'll tell you, you
know the reason so much emphasis is put on youth by the world?
It's because when that's gone, everything's gone. That's all
they got. Why do they put so much emphasis on strength, natural
strength, natural beauty, natural wisdom, natural power, natural
possessions? Why do they put so much emphasis
on these things? It's because that's all they
have. And when that's gone, everything's gone. Where is real beauty? Now, the girls out here that
have these beauty contests, and I always did think they were
the silliest things on earth. The silliest things on earth,
like children sitting on the beach. Here's a guy boasting
about being taller than somebody else. Here's a guy boasting about
being stronger than somebody else. Here's a girl bragging
about being in a little better form than somebody else. Well,
I'll tell you this, in about 30 years or 40 years, there's
not going to be any of it left. It's like children sitting on
the beach bragging about whose sandcastle is the biggest. Wait
till tomorrow, there won't be a one there. whose sandcastle
is the best. It won't wait till tomorrow,
there won't be one of them there. Real beauty, where is it? Well, the
Scripture says it's inward grace. That's where real beauty is,
inward grace. Where's real strength? Who is
the strong man, the man that can fight better? Some men, they're
They're so far away from any understanding at all to think
because they can make a man do something, because they can beat
him up, the man that has strength of heart and strength of soul
and strength of character, he's so infinitely above that individual
that can press 240 pounds. He's so infinitely above him,
they don't even belong on the same floor. That's where real
strength is. Where is real understanding?
It's in understanding God's wisdom and God's glory and God's gospel. Age brings us to real rest and
peace in the things of God, and these are things that age brings.
Age ought to bring us to a greater beauty. You know, physical beauty
fades as you get older. Inward beauty ought to increase. as you get older. You see what
I'm saying? As you get older, your strength
of body, you're not able to lift the things you could lift, or
walk the distance you could walk, or do the things you can do.
But spiritual strength ought to grow. Now age, that's what
age is. Why do we dread it? Why do we fear it? Why do we
apologize for getting older? We ought to really give thanks.
As we grow older in Christ, we get more tender, more understanding,
more patience. That's beauty. More faith, more
love, that's beauty. We grow in strength. You may
not can compete with the man 25 years of age running a race,
but you have to help him along through the race of life. He
comes to you for advice. What beauty. You go to him. Now, don't be embarrassed about
going to a young man and saying, son, lift that for me. I can't.
There was a day I could lift it, but I'm not going to apologize
for not being able to lift that. Pick that up for me. And the
next day he comes to you and says, we've got a problem down
at our house. I wish you'd help me with it. Oh, that's beauty,
isn't it? We need each other. And please
don't. I wish our folks as they get
older would see the beauty of age, of understanding. and experience and real inward
strength. That's where it is. Even down
to old age, all my people shall prove my sovereign, eternal,
unchangeable love, and when snow-white hair shall their temple adorn
like lambs, they shall still in my bosom be born. But I'll
tell you this, I'm not going to grow old. I'm going to always
be young in Christ. My steps may be slower, but I'll
be walking with the King. And isn't that what's important?
My eyes may be dimmer, but I'll see less of this world and more
of His glory. My ears may be dull, but perhaps
that's a blessing. I can stop listening to the clamor
and loudness of this world and start listening to His voice
a little more and hear Him loud and clear. My body may be weak,
but my soul grows stronger every day. I may not know the latest
story that appeared in the newspaper, but I know the old, old story
that appears in God's Word. That's the story of Christ and
his love. I may not be surrounded by as many admirers, but I'm
surrounded by heavenly hosts that's just waiting to take me
home. You know, the Lord over here in the Old Testament, that
young man, he was standing with the prophet. Was that Elijah
he was with? And that enemy was out there, and he got a little
scared. And he told Elijah, he said,
we're in trouble. And Elijah said, Lord, open this
young man's eyes and let him see what I see. And God opened
the young man's eyes, and all around him was a heavenly host,
innumerable. They that are far us are many
more than those that are against us. I'm not alone. We don't walk
a lonesome valley. We walk with the King. We walk
with the King. And while I like some of those
old black spirituals, you know, that talk about you've got to
walk that lonesome valley by yourself, you don't have to. You can walk with Christ. You've got to stand that judgment
trial all by yourself? No, sir. And some blessing comes,
you know, some material blessing, and thank God for it, enjoy it
while it's here, and when he's pleased to take it, the Lord
gave and the Lord take it away. My relationship with Christ is
still the same. It's still the same. And if some trial comes
in, we learn to live with it while it's here, but it's not
going to be long, it'll be gone too. These earthly things, they
all need to, we need to get a big grave and bury every one of them.
and cover them up and put a headstone, to the glory of God, and walk
with the King. And as folks come in, and as
things take for my health, God's given me good health, but someday
He's going to take it away, but we'll still walk with the King.
This is the most important phase of your life right here. This
is your life. Christ is our life. These other
things are just added on, they're just tacked on, they're just
things that better here temporarily until God's pleased to take them
away. Our Father in Heaven, we thank you for every mercy and
every blessing. We've not arrived. We're not
already perfect. We haven't laid hold upon that
which is so important for which we've been laid hold. But we
want to learn, and we want our people to learn. There's no need
for us to be in despair and distress We bring it upon ourselves by
our lack of faith. We are rebuked by our Lord, who
rebuked his disciples, O thou of little faith, wherein didst
thou doubt? Lord, carest thou that we perish? We're not going to perish. Carest
not thou that we're sick? Carest not thou that we're alone?
We're not alone. Our Lord is with us. Teach us,
O Lord, to be content. in whatsoever state we are, by
Thy sovereign purpose and will. And Lord, deliver us from just
seeing these things in the book, and let us enjoy them in our
hearts. Deliver us from just accepting
these things as doctrine, and make them living experiences.
Rejoice in the Lord always, and again I say rejoice. We ask these
blessings and mercies in His name, who loved us and gave Himself
for us. Amen.

The Time of My Departure

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The Time of My Departure

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