Senior Saints

Introduction

Good morning. I want to encourage you to please go ahead and get out your Bible this morning and make your way over into your New Testament to the book of Philippians. Please go into your Bible to Philippians chapter 3. We’re going to read a few verses out of Philippians 3 a few minutes from now. As you turn to Philippians 3 and get ready to study, I want to remind the South Bumby Church family of a couple of very important things. First, we are officially two weeks away from our gospel meeting with brother Roger Sha beginning.

So, please keep that on the forefront of your mind. Brother Roger will begin his meeting with us in September 13th. And we hope to have a good attendance. Please invite people. Please be here Monday through Wednesday of that week at 7:30 to hear the word of God. And remember, there will be day classes offered from 10 to 11:00 here at the building Monday through Wednesday as well. So, please if you can join in those, please make the time to do so.

It will be worth your time. And then also want to remind you that today at 3:00 we’re going to come back together and have a singing. Today we’re going to sing praise to God at 3:00. So after you get some lunch, if you’re able to, please join us in that for a great period of edification where we encourage each other and teach each other and sing praises to God together. As we transition into our study from God’s word, I want to begin by introducing you to Julia Hawkings.

Julia Hawings. Julia Hawkings was a retired school teacher from Baton Rouge, Louisiana. She died at 108 years old in the fall of 2024, but she was 106 years old when she was given the nickname the hurricane. She was called the hurricane. She was called a hurricane because in the fall of 2021 when she was 105 years old, she took part in the senior games and she set a world record. She set a world record by completing a 100meter race in a little over one minute and two seconds.

in a little over 62 seconds. Julia at 105 years old, ran a 100 meters. And you would think that she would have been proud of her time, but she wasn’t. She wasn’t happy with her time at all. She actually said, quote, “I could have did much better than that, but the high winds and the cold weather held me back.” She wasn’t satisfied with her time. And you add to that the fact that she didn’t even begin to take up sprinting until she was 100 years old.

And she actually began competing in the National Senior Games at 80 years old, specializing in cycling. She’s a great example of someone who refused to allow old age to stop her from trying new things and setting new goals and working hard to achieve those goals. The question is is what about you? What about you this morning? What about you? If you are a seasoned disciple of Jesus Christ, if you consider yourself to be a seasoned or a senior disciple of Jesus Christ, are you willing to try new things?

Are you willing to set new goals and work hard to achieve those goals? I ask you that question because during the years during the last couple of decades I’ve been blessed to preach the gospel of Jesus Christ. One of the things I have noticed is among the people of God and local congregations a lot of attention is usually given to young people. You ever noticed that? And a lot of places a lot of attention given to small children and to teenagers.

I mean, think about it. In most local congregations across the country, they offer classes for young people of all ages. And in the summertime, many of these places offer vacation Bible schools and teen. And many young people even go off to camps each summer so they can connect with other young disciples and engage in spiritual activities for for a period of time. So much attention is given to young people among the people of God today. But the question is, what about the seniors?

What about the senior saints or the senior disciples? What about those disciples who’ve been serving the Lord for decades and they’re grandparents and some of them are greatgrandparents and they’re retired and they got a lot of wisdom and experience but because of age their health has declined and they’re not able to do the same kinds of things that they once were able to do when it comes to these kinds of Christians. Do they need some attention as well?

Do they need some encouragement? Do they need even some motivation to continue running and being useful and fruitful in the kingdom of God? I submit to you this morning that they do. They absolutely do. Especially in the kind of culture and society we’re living in today. I don’t know if you’ve noticed or not, but we are currently living in a culture that is actively trying to condition us to believe that being elderly is a useless way of life and elderly people just kind of in the way and a burden.

They want us to believe that we have no use for the elderly and we kind of just need to push them out of the way and get them out of the way. That is how our culture seems to feel about the elderly. But the Bible says something different. The Bible teaches something different. The Bible teaches that those who are seasoned and seniors in life have tremendous value. They have so much to offer. They can serve in so many different ways in the kingdom of God.

In fact, in this study, I want to show you that. I want to show you that from the Bible. Now that we’ve had lessons this month about the role of elders and deacons and women in the church, I want to do something from this pull pit that maybe preachers don’t do enough today. And that is I want to encourage the senior saints. I want to encourage the senior disciples. I want to show them and show us all from the Bible that senior saints and senior disciples can be extremely useful and fruitful in this season of their lives.

In fact, this is a message that we find being promoted throughout all the Bible. Throughout all the Bible, we find so many people doing amazing things for the Lord during a time of old age. Take for example Moses. Remember Moses? Remember according to Stephen’s sermon in Acts chapter 7, Moses was 80 years old when God called him to deliver his people. He was 80 years old when God called him to go and rescue his people from Egypt. And for those who may want to suggest that being 80 years old at the time of Moses is very different than being 80 years old today, I want to remind you of what Moses himself said in the Bible.

I want to remind you of Psalm 90 and verse number 10. There Moses said that the normal lifespan was 70 years old and if you have good health, if you’re strong, maybe you can make it to 80 years old. In other words, being 80 in the time of Moses was no different than being 80 years old in our time today. And at 80 years old, Moses was called by God to go and do something hard. At 80 years old, he was called to go and shepherd and lead his people out of Egyptian slavery.

And then you add to that Joshua. Remember Joshua? Remember Joshua was selected by God to be the next leader of his people after the death of Moses. And he survived 40 years of Israel wandering in the wilderness, which means he could have been about 80 years old himself when he began leading the people of God in great military conquest. At 80 years old, he’s leading God’s people into the promised land to conquer all of their enemies. And then what about Abraham?

Remember Abraham was 175. He lived to be 175 years old. But at 75, God called him to leave his country and go live in Canaan. And when he was a hundred years old, his son Isaac was born. And when he was maybe between 115 and 120 years old, God tested his faith by commanding him to offer up Isaac as a sacrifice. As an old man, Abraham was challenged in tremendous ways when it came to his service to God. And then what about what about Daniel? What about Daniel, the prophet of God? I don’t know about you, but when I was growing up listening to sermons and going to Bible classes, I was under the impression that Daniel was maybe a kid when he was thrown into that lion’s den.

I was given the impression that maybe he was about Robert’s age or Ryan’s age or Shawn Michael’s age. When I studied the Bible for myself, I realized I was wrong. I realized that Daniel wasn’t a teenager. He wasn’t a kid when he was thrown into that lion’s den. instead he was about 90 years old. He was 90 years old when he was thrown into that lion’s den because he refuse to stop praying to God. There are many other examples we could put on this slide.

1. They Must Never Be Content

But the point is the same. You see the point. You see that all throughout the Bible, we find God using seasoned and older people in life to do amazing things for his glory. And not only could God do that in times of the Bible, but God can continue doing that in our time today. Today, God can continue using those who are advanced in years to do amazing things. But for that to take place, some other things have to also take place. And the first thing that must happen if older folks, seasoned folks are going to be useful and fruitful for the Lord is number one, they must never be content.

They must never be content. What do I mean when I say that seasoned disciples must never be content? Well, before I tell you what I mean here, let me first tell you what I don’t mean. Let me first suggest to you that when I use this language, I don’t mean that senior saints, seasoned disciples should not be doing what Paul talks about in Philippians chapter 4. I do not mean that seasoned disciples should not be content with their current blessings from God.

We all should be doing that. We all should be content with our blessings from God. We all should be content with God providing us each day with the basic necessities we need to live on this earth. I do not mean that senior saints should not be content with their current blessings. Instead, what I mean is senior saints, senior disciples should never be content with their current spiritual progress. I mean, they should never be satisfied with their growth and with their work and the acts of service they’ve rendered to the Lord.

I say that because Paul said that. Are you in Philippians chapter 3? Listen to what the Apostle Paul says in Philippians chapter 3. And Paul is a seasoned disciple at this time. He’s an older man who’s actually pinning this these words, pinning this epistle from a Roman jail cell. And in Philippians chapter 3 and in verse 12, in verse 12, Paul says, “Not that I’ve already obtained it or I’ve already become perfect.” The word perfect there is not talking about sinless perfection.

It’s talking about a full level of spiritual maturity. Paul says, “I haven’t I haven’t achieved that yet, but I press on so that I may lay hold of that for which I also was laid hold of by Christ Jesus. Brethren, I do not regard myself as having laid hold of it yet. But one thing I do, forgetting what lies behind, and reaching forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. Let us therefore as many as are perfect, fully spiritual, mature, have this attitude.

And if anything you have a different attitude, God will reveal that also to you. However, let us keep living by the same standard to which we have attained. Brethren, join and following my example and observe those who walk according to the pattern you have in us. Do you see the attitude Paul had as a seasoned disciple of Jesus Christ? Notice how Paul says that he was not content with where he was spiritually. The great apostle Paul says that he wasn’t satisfied with his spiritual growth.

He wasn’t satisfied with his maturity. He wasn’t satisfied with the things he had already accomplished in the kingdom of God. Even though by this time he had already done so much. Even though by this time he had preached the gospel and and planted churches all throughout the Roman Empire. Even though he had had baptized so many people and planted churches all over the place. Even though he had mentored young preachers and worked miracles and equipped the saints to do the work of God, Paul says there was even more he could do.

There was even more ways in which he could become like Jesus. There was even more room for him to grow and mature and serve serve the Lord and his people. That’s the kind of mindset that Paul carried with him in his old age. And that’s also the kind of mindset that God wants senior saints or senior disciples to have today. Oh, no matter how long a saint or a Christian is blessed to live today, God wants them to think like Paul, God wants them to never be content with their current knowledge.

He wants them to never be content with their past spiritual accomplishments. He wants them to never be content with their current understanding and be willing to change their views on things if over time they realize that their current views are wrong. He wants them to constantly evaluate themselves spiritually and be honest about their flaws and work hard to grow and perfect those areas. It reminds me of what I heard a dear friend of mine say a couple of years ago.

Couple years ago, I was attending a preacher study in Dallas, Texas. I went to Dallas, Texas to attend this preacher study. And there were about 25 or 30 preachers in the room at this study. And believe it or not, but I was actually one of the older preachers there in my 40s. I was one of the older preachers there. Most of those preachers, about 95% of them were in their 20s and in their 30s. But there was one person there, one preacher there who was in his 70s.

He was in his 70s. And he had been preaching the gospel for over 50 years. And when somebody asked him, “Hey man, what in the world are you doing here? Why are you here studying with these young preachers?” Do you know what he said? I’ll never forget it. He said you’re never too old to learn. He said you’re never too old to keep growing and your knowledge and understanding of the word of God. May God bless us all to have that kind of attitude. May God bless us all to have that kind of humility.

2. They Must Never Retire

If senior disciples, senior saints are going to remain useful and fruitful in the kingdom, they must never be content with their current knowledge and progress spiritually, but not only must they not be content. Secondly, they must also never retire. You can’t retire. Now, what do I mean when I use this word retire here? Well, again, before I tell you what I mean, let me first tell you what I don’t mean. First, let me just say that when I use the word retire here or retirement, I’m not talking about retirement from secular work.

I’m not saying that it is wrong to retire after you have spent several years, several decades working on a job, having a career, and now you want to spend time with your family. You want to travel. You want to play golf. You want to fish, hike, camp, be with those grandbabies. I’m not saying it’s wrong to do any of that cuz it’s not. There’s nothing wrong with retiring from secular work. But there is something wrong with retiring from the Lord’s work.

There is something wrong with retiring from being a Christian. There is something wrong with retiring from being a soldier in the army of God. And you want to sit back and you don’t want to do anything. You don’t want to be useful and fruitful. That there’s a problem there. And there’s a problem there because the Bible says so. Are you still back in Philippians? Look at verse 14 again. Paul, who’s a seasoned man in the faith? He’s an older man in the faith. And he had accomplished a lot in the kingdom of God.

And yet in Philippians 3 and in verse 14 and in verse 14, he says, “I press on toward the goal FOR THE PRIZE OF THE UPALL of God in Christ Jesus, Paul says, I got more I’m going to do. I’m not stopping. I’m not retiring.” Go to the book of Joshua, please. Look at Joshua chapter 14. Please go in your Bible to Joshua 14. Remember I mentioned to you, I mentioned earlier Caleb or Joshua to you, but now I want to talk about Caleb. So remember Joshua was about 80 years old when he began to lead Israel into finally conquering the promised land.

But he wasn’t the only one who was able to survive that wilderness wondering. There was another guy who was able to survive. His name was Caleb. Remember Caleb? Caleb was also a spy who was originally sent out by Moses and he came back with a optimistic report. He said, “We can do it. God will bless us. Let’s have faith to do what God tells us to do and defeat these people.” And because of his faith, God blessed him to survive the wilderness wanderings.

And when you get to Joshua 14, he’s an old man. He’s 85 years old. He’s seen a lot. And now God’s people are finally conquering this land and dividing it up. And listen to what the Bible says in Joshua 14 and verse 6. In Joshua 14:E6 it says, “And the sons of Judah drew near Joshua and Gilgal and Caleb the son of Japunia the kinite said to him you know the word which the Lord spoke to Moses the man of God concerning you and me in Kadesh Barnea. I was 40 years old when Moses the servant of God sent me from Kadesh Barnea the spy of the land and I brought back to him as was in my heart.

I brought word back to him as was in my heart. Nevertheless, my brethren who went up with me made the heart of the people melt with fear. They didn’t have faith. But I’ll follow the Lord my God fully. So Moses swore to me on that day, saying, “Surely the land on which your foot has trotten will be an inheritance to you and to your children forever because you’ve obeyed the Lord my God fully. Now behold, the Lord has let me live just as he spoke these 45 years.”

from the time the Lord spoke this word to Moses when Israel walked in the wilderness. And now, behold, I’m 85 years old today. And I’m still as strong today. I love this. I’m still as strong today as I was in the day that Moses sent me. As my strength was then, so my strength is now for war and for going out and coming in. Now, then give me this hill country about which the Lord spoke on that day. For you heard that on that day that Anakim, that’s giants, giants were there with great fortified cities.

Perhaps the Lord will be with me and I will drive them out as the Lord has spoken. Notice the words of this great servant of God. Notice how at 85 years old, as an old man, Caleb’s not looking to retire from the service of God. He’s not walking around saying, “Well, you know what? that I’ve been blessed to serve the Lord for a long time. I put my time in and I’m just going to step back and let these young guys do it. No, no, no, sir. No, ma’am. That’s not Caleb.

Even at 85 years old, with the strength God had given him. He believed that God could still use him. He believed that God could still use him to do amazing things. He believed that God could use him to battle giants. Senior saints must never retire from the service of God. That’s the kind of mindset that Caleb had. And that’s the kind of mindset that senior saints must have today. Even today, senior saints must realize that God never wants them to retire from kingdom work.

3. Practical Ways to Remain Useful and Fruitful

He never wants them to slow down and become stagnant and relax and stop stretching themselves and trying to be useful and fruitful in the kingdom of God. In fact, I want to quickly give you some practical ways, some practical ways in which senior disciples can do that. Let me give you some practical things that senior and seasoned disciples can do to remain useful and fruitful in the service of God. And let’s just begin by talking about the importance of their example, the importance of their influence.

In 1 Corinthians chapter 11 and verse one, in 1 Corinthians 11 and verse one, Paul says, “Be imitators of me as I also what? Imitate Christ.” In 2 Thessalonians chapter 3:9, Paul talks to the Thessalonians about how he had offered himself as a model and an example for them. Paul understood the importance of an example. He understood that fruit could be bore for God through a powerful example. And that is especially true when it comes to seasoned and senior saints.

One of the important ways in which senior saints can continue serving the Lord and bearing fruit in the kingdom of God is by providing a positive example. By providing a positive example when it comes to marriage, by showing the younger folks how to love and how to be in love and how to be dedicated to somebody for a lifetime. by providing a positive example when it comes to commitment by showing the younger folks how to preserve or how to persevere and continue serving the Lord and worshiping the Lord despite facing life’s challenges, health challenges, losing loved ones, even having to deal with problems in the church by providing a positive example through continual kindness and honesty.

and integrity and humility and gratitude and by being someone who is optimistic about the future and not always being full of doom and gloom. Seasoned saints can be useful and fruitful through their influence and they can also be useful and fruitful through teaching through continuing to teach. Go in your Bible to Titus chapter 2. Look at Titus chapter 2. We made mention of these verses last week in our sermon about what sisters, what women can do in the kingdom of God.

But let’s read them together for for just a few seconds. In Titus chapter 2, in Titus chapter 2, Paul says in verse number two, in Titus 2 and in verse two, older men, older men in the church are to be temperate, dignified, sensible, sound in faith and love and perseverance. Older men ought to be a model, an example for the younger men to follow. And then in verse three, he talks to the older women and he says, ‘Oldder women likewise are to be reverent in their behavior, not malicious gossips, nor to enslave to much whine, teaching, teaching what is good.

So they may encourage the young women to love their husbands, to love their children, to be sensible, pure workers at home, kind, being subject to their own husbands, so that the word of God will not be dishonored. Do you see what Paul is saying there? Notice how in those verses, we find a commandment. That’s a commandment. That’s a commandment given to seasoned sisters in the faith. The Bible commands seasoned sisters in the church to teach and influence the younger sisters, to teach them how to be good wives to their husbands, to teach them how to be good mothers to their children, to teach them how to conduct themselves as women who are supposed to be devoted to God.

You know, so often we say that the younger folks are the church of the future. But notice how Paul says in these verses that that future is being shaped today. It’s being shaped by what the older generation is doing for the younger generation today. It is being shaped by whether or not older women are teaching younger women how to serve the Lord. Seeing your saints can be useful and fruitful in this season through influence and through teaching and also through encouraging.

Go to your Bible to 1 Timothy chapter 4. In 1 Timothy chapter 4, look at verse number 12. Paul here is writing to the young preacher. Timothy is about in his 30s at this time, probably about in his 30s. And he says to him in 1 Timothy chapter 4 and verse 12, “Let no one look down on your youthfulness, but rather in speech, conduct, love, faith, and purity, show yourself an example of those who believe.” Notice the first part of that verse. Paul says to this younger preacher, “Don’t let anyone look down on you and discourage you because you’re young.”

Why would Paul have to tell him that? Well, the reason why Paul has to tell him this is because Paul knows that’s exactly what’s going to happen. He knows that older folks, there’s some older folks in the church who are going to look down on Timothy because he’s young. And God doesn’t want that. God doesn’t want older saints to look down upon and despise the young. Instead, he wants them to encourage them, strengthen them, build them up. In fact, in fact, some of the best encouragement I’ve ever received in my life has come from senior saints, whether it was my grandmother, who many of y’all met a couple of weeks ago, who raised me in East Texas to serve the Lord, and she first encouraged me to serve the Lord.

Or it was my mentor Max Dawson who was in his mid60s when I started learning from him in my early 20s how to preach the gospel or men like Roger Sha who you’re going to meet in a couple of weeks or brother D. Bowman, many of you know him, or brother Don Trux, or the shepherds in this church, or the very first church we work with in Leburg, Florida, and we were one of only about three young couples in that whole congregation. For so many of you here who’ve been serving the Lord for a very long time and every single Sunday, you always say something encouraging to me.

You’re always kind. Some of you throughout the week send encouraging texts, Facebook messages, emails. You encourage me as a younger man in so many different ways. And you also encourage Jr. and you encourage our sons and the other boys here whenever they get up to lead a prayer or read scripture or give a Wednesday night invitation. Some of you write cards and you encourage people here on their birthdays and when their anniversaries pop up and you show up at funerals to grieve with brethren and some of you encourage by just being here this morning and you’re not feeling good.

Your bones are aching. You got all kinds of health problems right now and yet you’re still here because you love the Lord and you want to encourage his people. That right there does so much. It encourages so many people. One of the ways in which senior saints can still be useful and fruitful is through their influence, through their teaching, through their encouragement. And let me also add through their wisdom. Through their sharing their wisdom. Go in your Bible to the book of Job. There’s a great verse in the book of Job that I want to read to you right now.

And it’s in Job chapter 12, please. In Job chapter 12 and in verse number 12, in Job 12 and in verse number 12, the Bible says this about wisdom. It says, “Wisdom is with the aged men with long life is understanding.” According to the Bible, generally speaking, with old age comes a blessing. With old age comes the blessing of wisdom. What is wisdom? Well, biblically speaking, wisdom is the application of good judgment. Wisdom, according to the Bible, is the ability to navigate through life well with the word of God despite all the troubles and challenges it has.

4. Things We Need to Do for Our Senior Saints

The Bible says that senior saints can do that. In fact, senior saints can do that very well. They can do that very well because they’ve lived a lot of years on this earth and they’ve experienced a lot and they’ve seen a lot. These are four practical things that senior saints in this church and in every church can do to remain useful and fruitful. But before I close this lesson, I got to do one more thing. I got to say some things to the younger folks.

I got to say some things to people like me in their mid-4s and younger. While this lesson has been primar primarily designed to encourage the senior saints among us as younger folks, we need to understand there’s some things we need to do. There are some things we need to do for our senior saints, for our senior disciples here. And the first thing we need to do is we need to be respectful. We need to be respectful. We live in a time when so many young folks have no respect for older folks. That’s a problem.

That shouldn’t be going on among the people of God. For us younger folks, we need to treat our senior saints right. We need to talk to them respectfully. We need to be kind to them. We need to be grateful for them. We need to value them. We need to seek to continue working in peace alongside them in the kingdom instead of being at odds with them and constantly clashing with them. We need to seek to work in peace alongside them. In fact, one of the ways we can do that is by spending time with them.

Us younger folks need to spend time with the older folks. We need to spend time talking with them. We need to spend time asking them questions. We need to call them. We need to visit them. We need to listen to the wisdom they have accumulated in life. We need to go to our shepherds and ask them to mentor us and prepare us to one day do the same kind of work they’re doing. We need to be asking the parents and the grandparents among us who have raised faithful Christians, tell me how you did that.

I want to do that. We need to ask them those questions. And for the younger sisters here, you need to be humble enough to listen to the older sisters when you find them trying to obey what God says and Titus 2 and that is teach and instruct you in the word of God. We need to spend time with our senior saints and we need to appreciate them. We need to be thankful for all they’ve done to serve the Lord in the past and all they’re trying to do to serve the Lord today.

Conclusion

We need to be thankful for all they’ve done to keep this church, South Bumby, strong and scriptural and sound. We need to be thankful for the battles that they fought and their willingness to never compromise the truth. Living in a culture that’s drifting further and further away from God. These are things we need to do as younger disciples in Christ. And so as we get ready to close, I want to go back to where our scripture reading came from this morning.

Psalm 92. Brother Wall-Ally read from Psalm 92. Remember that? Psalm 92 is a great text because there the psalmist says that even in old age, a person can bear fruit. Even in old age, someone can be productive and flourish and grow in their service to God. In fact, what the psalmist says in those verses should not only be the goal of older and seasoned disciples, but it should be the goal of all of us. No matter what age we are, no matter if we’re teens or in our 20s, 30s, 40s, or if we are considered to be senior saints, we should all strive to grow and be useful and fruitful for the Lord.

And maybe there’s somebody here this morning and you say, “Well, you’re not even serving the Lord.” If you want to start serving the Lord, you can begin doing that today. Over the past eight or nine days, we’ve had three people come to the Lord. Three baptisms in about eight or nine days. We give the glory to God for that. But maybe there’s someone here who wants to obey the gospel on this day. If so, we will accommodate that. We will help you with that. If you’re willing to confess your faith in Christ and repent of your sins, we will baptize you in water for the forgiveness of your sins.

or if there’s someone here this morning who needs to repent and come back home to your father, we’ll pray with you and pray for you. If there’s anyone here this morning who needs to respond to the gospel, come to the front right now. Let’s stand. Let’s