In his sermon 'The Secret to Aging,' Alexander Strauch emphasizes the importance of being 'planted in the house of the Lord' as the foundation for aging gracefully and bearing fruit in old age. He highlights the significance of community and spiritual growth within the Lord's house, suggesting that security and vitality come from being with God's people. Strauch cites key verses, including Psalm 92:13-14, which speaks of flourishing and bearing fruit in old age, and 2 Corinthians 4:16, which contrasts the physical decay with the daily renewal of the inner man. He uses the metaphor of a tree with flowing sap to describe the necessity of the Holy Spirit's presence for maintaining spiritual vitality. Strauch shares his personal goal of bearing more fruit in his later years and discusses the importance of engaging in the Lord's work, such as visiting and ministering to others, as a means of spiritual renewal.

I have a couple key verses for aging. This is one of them here. But notice the secret. The secret is this. Those who are planted in the house of the Lord, that's where it starts.

You're with the Lord's people. You're in the Lord's house. And that's where you will get your security and it's the community in which you will grow up in. So he says here, "'Shall flourish in the courts of our God.'" But now listen to this, and This is one of my life verses for aging. They shall bear fruit in old age.

Now, over 75, they consider old age today. It's the newest study because age has moved up because people are living longer. After 75, you're old age. So I'm old. I don't admit it, but normally I won't admit it, but I will to you because you're such a nice person.

This is a verse I use for my aging. I wanna bear fruit in old age. I wanna bear more fruit in old age. But then he says something here which is not in this English version. They will flow with sap and be green.

In other words, a tree can't be green if the sap isn't flowing. So you want the sap of the Holy Spirit flowing in your life and you have leaves that are green and you're bearing fruit. You're alive, you're not dead, you're not brittle and broken at old age. So Caleb was 85 and he was strong for the Lord. So I love this verse because it tells us in the house of God Planted in the Lord's in among the Lord's people you have a much greater chance of aging properly and Of bearing fruit.

So My goal is to bear greater fruit in my years ahead. What do I have? 10 years, 15 the most, I wanna bear more fruit. I want the sap flowing in my life. But much of that comes in the house of God, planted in the house of the Lord with the Lord's people.

And the Lord's work gives me lots of things to do. So another one of my key verses for aging is 2 Corinthians 4.16. Although the outward person is fading away, if you're over 55, you know what that means, The inner man, the new man in Christ, is being renewed day by day. Not year by year, not month by month, day by day. That's another one of my verses.

So yes, I can't stop a lot of the outer decay. You can fight back and you should, but the inner man, because he's with the Lord, listening to sermons, going to prayer meetings, ministering to brothers and sisters, He's being renewed every day. So being busy in the Lord's work, serving the Lord's people, like just in the last week I visited two people who were dying, it's a wonderful thing to be by the side of a brother or sister. They know they've got a month, two months, one dying of cancer, one of just, body just breaking down in his 90s. So I'm ministering to these other people and in a sense it builds me up.