How are older men called to live sound doctrine? The high calling of older men in the church according to Paul's letter to Titus.

Good morning. If you would turn with me to Titus chapter 2. We'll read verses 1 through 10. Titus chapter 2 verses 1 through 10. Inspired by God, Paul writes to the church, or writes to Titus, but as for you, teach what accords with sound doctrine.

Older men are to be sober-minded, dignified, self-controlled, sound in faith, in love, and instead fastness. Older women likewise are to be reverent in behavior, not slanderers or slaves to much wine. They are to teach what is good, and so train young women to love their husbands and children, to be self-controlled, pure, working at home, kind, and submissive to their own husbands, that the word of God might not be reviled. Likewise, urge the younger men to be self-controlled. Show yourself in all respects to be a model of good works, and in your teachings show integrity, dignity, and sound speech that cannot be condemned, so that an opponent may be put to shame, having nothing evil to say about us.

Bond servants are to be submissive to their own masters in everything. They are to be well pleasing, not argumentative, not fifering, but showing all good faith, so that in everything they may adorn the doctrine of God our Savior Let's pray Father we come to you this morning in all Father I stand in all this morning of how you have shown yourself to us this week, Father, and the things that our brother has shared during the revival services, Father, and showing your sovereignty and reaffirming things that we've heard before, but also giving us a new perspective. Father, we thank you, Father, that your grace upon us is the only thing that causes us to be here. Your grace is the only thing that causes us to even know you. So Father, this morning I lift this service to you Father remind me that I am nothing you are all Remind me that it's your word that will remain forever in my words that will be as moth and rust destroy.

So Father I pray and I ask let my words be destroyed before they exit my mouth. Let your word reign supreme. And Father, as your word is proclaimed, Father, God, I pray that hearts would be changed, that hearts would be drawn, That God, as I pondered last night, pride is what caused Lucifer to be our enemy, your enemy. Pride is what has kept many, many people from coming to knowledge in you. And Father, as we examine your word, it's so often that the enemy would throw pride at us, that we would not, Our hearts would not be rendered, our hearts would not be broken because your word is contrary to our nature, but God, pride would well up within us to justify ourselves, to even become angry.

So Father, today, more than anything, more than any person, Father, we need You. Father, I need You, Father. Father, open our hearts. Let us not leave here hardened. God, let us leave here broken.

Because your Word says you resist the proud and you give grace to the humble. Humble us today, Father, I ask. We need You desperately. Father, we ask in Jesus' name. Amen.

Amen. Well, if you remember, not last week, but the week before, I kind of did an introduction to Titus 2 1 through 10 and in a fast flyby recap to understand it rightly we must understand that in Titus chapter 1, Paul is telling Titus what to look for in the leaders of the church, that Titus is here finding elders to lead the churches that are being planted all across the region. He's there to find these elders, these leaders in the church, and Paul laid out this is what to look for in an elder. And you might notice that if you've been on one of our nominating committees, which If you were nominated last year, I'll be talking to you soon. But every year when we come into the nominating committee, I give them a sheet of paper and Titus 1 is listed on that paper.

And as we think about elders, this is what an elder should look like. This is where they should be in their walk with Christ. And then further in Titus 1, he further explains, alright, this is what to look for in an elder, but also this is what false prophets look like. This is what false teachers look like. And so then he changes to Titus chapter 2, and he switches gears.

He takes his eyes off the leaders of the church, and he looks into the church at the members of the church and addresses those who would sit in the pews, who know Christ. How should we live? What should our character be like? What should our relationship with Christ be like? So this morning we looked specifically at verse 2, Titus 2 verse 2, and we looked specifically at the older men in the church.

It says older men are to be sober minded, dignified, self controlled, sound in faith and love and in steadfastness. Now you might ask yourself this morning, who are the older men? Or what does this mean by older men? If we think back towards Bible times, often times we get we have a little bit of a skewed view because we Most of us would assume that in the Bible times people might have only lived to be 20 or 30 But that's not actually the case we We have advanced medically and people do live longer today, but There there still were old older people back then that not everyone died when they were young and not everyone died when there were in Middle Ages in fact The the difference is is they were just there were much fewer There were much fewer to reach an older age. As I prepared for this, I was looking at some statistics in our country.

And I can't remember all of them. I just thought this is just overwhelming. But basically the trend is, is that we continue to have a bigger and bigger and bigger elder population. That through advances in medicine and all these things, that people are living longer. And there are a bigger chunk of our population is continually being an older generation.

And I believe that that's a good thing. I believe that that's a blessing to a culture and to a church. But this morning that blessing, it can be a blessing or it can work against you. And this morning it is those things that were laid out by the Apostle Paul, those things laid out by scripture that will determine whether an older man is a blessing or something that is a liability to a local church. To see a true representative, we look to the expert.

And I often think about as an older man, as an older person, we start to become more and more to look like an expert. In fact, If I was going to fly on an airplane, if I was flying from here to Texas, I just had enough of this snow already and I'm going to Texas where I can watch some rodeos and my t-shirt and have a good old day and then go catch some bass afterwards. Right? And I get onto the plane and I actually do this. If I was to be honest with you, I judge pilots.

Maybe you shouldn't do this. But I judge them and if I get on the plane and I can see the pilot and he's just this really young man, it worries me a little. This is just a young guy. I hope this isn't his first day. I want him to learn to be a pilot.

I'm glad that he can do this, but other people surely, he could fly with them first. One time I got on a plane and it was actually his last flight until his retirement. And I was comforted. Like, here's this older man flying the airplane he's he's been and they actually said how much he's flown he flew flew in the military he flew these missions and all these things and then he retired from the military and joined the airline, and now he's flown hundreds of thousands of hours. I felt like I was getting home that day.

I felt like even when the flight was bumpy, I'm comforted because this guy is at the helm. In fact, if you, there's some things on YouTube about different flight emergencies, and they'll at the end of it, they will say if it weren't for his years of experience, and even his time in the military this entire flight would have been a disaster yet Somehow without any engines he managed to land this plane on the runway and but a few minor injuries Everyone walked away Still alive Now if we went to a doctor, I don't want the new guy. Especially if he's giving me brain surgery, right? There's a, I was at my parents' this weekend and my dad was watching football and I remember there was this commercial on where the doctor comes in and he says, and the nurse is like, so that you're off of your suspension. He's like, yeah, well, not technically.

He's like, well, he tells the patient, you're a little worried about this surgery, aren't you? Me too. And he turns around and walks away, he's like, well, see you in there. When it comes to important things, we want the expert. And I believe that that is why older men to the church are so important.

That they have lived life. That they have experienced things that the younger people haven't experienced. They've lived through burying their parents. They've lived through going and currently probably go to many funerals of their friends. They watch their friends die.

Life no longer has this potential that it did as a young person. They're not sitting around debating on what career path should I go into. They're no longer thinking about long-term investments. The appeal of the world, the excitement of life is starting to grow dim. And what happens is, is the things that are most important start to come to the forefront.

I see this even in my own family. Those in my family whom were very hard to get along with. Those that were very, could go off the handle at any moment if you offended them. Now that they're older, they say, ah, they're kids. Don't worry about it.

It's not a big deal. I have people in my family that comfort me. It's not a big deal if your kids are eating all the ice cream out of the freezer. But dad, it is. It's a big deal.

They shouldn't do that. They need to ask before they get in. That's a made up story. Don't look at my kids bad. But and specifically my dad, the marine sergeant, whom everything had to be in order, now that he's older says, it's not that big of a deal.

I'd rather my grandkids be happy. And to carry that forward, the Bible tells us to honor the elderly because they know way more than we do. If you're in college or you're a teenager this morning, I can assure you they know way more than you do. In the computer industry, I used to joke sometimes. I would say, you know, this guy, this older guy whom you younger people make fun of, he's forgot more about IT than you even know.

And yet there's something about youth that says, I know all this, they're old fashioned, they don't know what they're talking about. But I can tell you and reassure you, the Bible tells us, it tells us even if we are to correct an elderly person, if I was to go to Tom and bring him to correction, that I'm not to do it sharply, that I'm to come to Him as He is my Father, to gently show Him, to not be harsh. Why? Because I still am commanded to respect Him. Amen?

I'm still commanded to respect even those that I might disagree with. There is much to be learned from the elderly. If they have given their lives to Christ and if they've poured themselves into to chasing God to knowing him they have they have forgotten things they have forgotten more things than we even know they've experienced things that give them a perspective that we can't comprehend in fact even in this room I would say those older farmers they have done things ways that I can't comprehend I remember my cousin Terry out at our house, He was saying how this used to be a corn crib. And believe it or not, he said they used to throw the corn clear over the top of it with a pitch fork. This is how they loaded this corn crib.

I would do it for ten minutes and I would say I'm gonna starve. But if we are to, if we are to, with anything important, if we care about what it is, we want to go to the expert and I believe that is why Paul addresses this and why we we look at what does the expert look like or what what should the older man be like the first thing that it listed is sober minded that the older man is this sober minded this Greek word is translated also to temperate. He's not given to any extremes in behavior, perhaps especially in terms of alcohol. But this temperance, this extremes can be broken down into two different realms. We could say that this older man is commanded to be temperate in attitude.

That they don't fly off the handle when things go wrong. I can tell you when I was younger and maybe I was working on a bicycle or whatever it might be and I start working on it and I told a story a couple weeks ago. If I was putting a screw into the side of a barn and it was really hard to get in there and I finally got it And I decided it needed to go in just this much farther, and I gave it a quarter of a turn, and the head fell off. When I was younger, I would, I joke about this all the time, but I would say, I would go off like a Roman candle. I would be so upset.

I'd be so angry. I might even start pounding on the barn because of how bad it's been to me. But as we grow older, we're commanded to be temperate, to not give in to the extremes of our flesh, to give in to extreme behavior, to have highs and lows, to be on top of the world in this second, and then to the lowest low on the next. I've worked with people like this. And after a period of time, I would come into work, and I would begin to say, I don't know whether they're on top of the world today, or whether they're on this end, whether I'm going to suffer their wrath, or whether I'm going to laugh with them for an hour.

It got to the point where I said, I don't even want to see them. I want to avoid them. Why? Because they're not temperate. It's a risk.

It's a gamble every time I talk to them. As believers, God has commanded us to be temperate. We should be the sweet potato casserole on Thanksgiving. That when people think of us to come talk to us, they know that this isn't going to be an extreme experience. This is going to be a good experience.

We're going to enjoy it. It's going to be good. They're going to have a good attitude. Why? Because they've realized that life isn't all about all of this stuff.

Our circumstances are, in essence, the will of God to grow us, to draw us closer to Christ. Who could be angry with a barn who doesn't care if we're angry or not? I used to joke in IT, you can cuss at your computer all day long, it doesn't care. Our emotion doesn't change whether inanimate objects cooperate or not. But temperate, temperate in attitude.

The next is temperate in physical stuff. As young people, we tend to get into something. And I still, my flesh, I battle this. Because I might get into, Dave knows, I probably talk about this every time we walk, I just, kayaking is so appealing. And my flesh would say, go out and get a kayak.

And not just a kayak, but I gotta have the best life jacket, and I gotta have the best fishing gear, and I've gotta have everything that comes with it, And just pour my heart into this. And thank you. Thanks be to God. He's given me a wife to temper at me out. Amen.

I've known people like this in their work I Have a friend who when he sets his mind to something whether it's starting a new business or whatever it is That is all he thinks about for months and months and months and he will have everything to do with this business and he will pour everything into it. Now I'm not saying we shouldn't be hard workers but we can be very not sober minded towards stuff. We can really go overboard. I, not to keep talking about myself, but oftentimes when I finally decide I need to buy something, the advice of my wife is sometimes you should just spend extra and get the best one so we don't have to buy two. Why?

My temperance isn't developed to where it should be. I'm not sad, I'm never satisfied, my flesh is never satisfied with just the stuff I have or second best. But as we grow older and older, as we grow in Christ, we start to understand stuff isn't all that important. I don't need the wrench that lasts for 350 years, three lifetime warranties on it. I just need what I need to work with today.

The second word is dignified. This Greek word means being worthy of esteem or respect, especially on account of one's behavior. A dignified person is a self-controlled person. But a dignified person is one whom, when they stand to speak, everyone stops to listen. I hear stories of this all the time where we'll have this this quiet grandparent or quiet grandpa or or quiet uncle and he never talks but he's always listening and then when he starts to talk everyone hushes because they know this is going to be something they need to listen to.

Because he is dignified. He is worthy of esteem. He is worthy of respect. Because of how he behaves. When they talk, everyone listens.

The next word was self-control or moderate. They are wisely keeping self-control over one's passions and desires. It's back to the stuff again. They understand stuff loses its value. Our desires don't over, They're also watchful that their desires don't overpower our pursuit of God.

That their desires to do whatever they may want to do. Recreation isn't a bad thing. But anytime that our recreation overpowers our pursuit of God, we're no longer moderate. We're no longer self-controlled. We're not keeping control and reigning in of our passions and desires.

Oftentimes, I look at those who go to church or those people whom I've known or churches I've visited and I've looked at where people place their priorities. I've seen how much time they spend here or there. In fact, myself, I've been tempted at times. When I was younger, it seemed like they always put disc golf tournaments on Sundays. And there was times my flesh said, well, you know, you could miss here or there to make it to a disc golf tournament.

And that's wrong, Caleb. We can't do that. Our desires can't overpower our pursuit of God. I've lived long enough now to see the effects of some of this. I've visited friends in the hospital whom had no time for God, and yet now they lay in a hospital bed and the chest gods can't help them.

They find no comfort in the chest gods. I've had others whom lay in a hospital bed or go through a divorce and they have nowhere to turn because there is no deep foundation in Christ. They can't turn to the softball gods. They can't turn to the bar gods. Yet this foundation of which they built with their entire life, and now when they more than ever, they need something more than what's around them.

They need something more than where their passions have led them. And because the foundation is there, they find no comfort. We learn as we get older that we need to be moderate. We need to be self-controlled. That there's nothing in this world that compares to the glory of God The next word is sound and it's actually sound tied to sound and faith But I think it's important that we look at this Greek word for sound because it means to be correct or to be healthy.

It means to be correct or accurate, conceived as being free from infirmity or disease. So when we tie this to sound in faith, it's more than just being correct in faith. As we went through Romans and we went through a lot of scripture, we start to see that God is especially concerned with what we believe about him. Our culture says not so much. Our culture says you believe how you want.

It doesn't really matter as long as you're trying to do your best. Yet scripture over and over and over and over again says it is a big deal to be right about who God is. It's a big deal to be right about who Christ is. In fact if we don't believe correctly about some things about Christ, we cannot be saved. He cannot save us because we don't believe in the Christ of Scripture.

We believe in a Christ that is made up that man is more comfortable with. But tie that word sound and faith. It's more than just believing what is right. It's more than believing the content of what is and should be believed about the good news of Jesus, Jesus's way of salvation, which is the definition of that faith word. But it's actually to be correct and absent or free from infirmity or disease.

It is a big deal to be wrong about Christ. And oftentimes we think that these small differences, we look at different people, maybe on TV or wherever it is, and there are some who would call out and say, you know this isn't right about what they believe, there's something wrong with this. And our culture would say, well don't worry about it, it's not a big deal. Worry about yourself. But I would tell you that it is a big deal because it is a disease attached to the true faith.

A disease doesn't just stop with that person. A disease spreads. This morning I came into church and and Greg was back there and if you don't know Greg's been suffering. He's been going through a flu bug I think and his family has and I've been feeling bad for him and I came in and I saw him and I was so excited to see him there and I wanted to throw my hand out I'm like oh I don't know about this and he gave me the fist We and Megan have the fist thing going on. But he has a bug so I'm like, yeah, let's do that.

But the same is true of sound faith. If we allow a little bug to come in, it will disease it. The older man in Scripture is called to be sound in faith. The older man is, because of a lifetime, potentially, of seeking Christ, they know what this word says. And this morning, if that's not you, today is the day to climb back on the horse, to know what this says.

The church needs people to know this book. Why? Because the people that know this book know when to do the fist bump and when to shake. They know when to embrace and they know when to resist. They don't allow the bugs of false doctrine to creep in because once those bugs get in, they spread.

And oftentimes, just as in Lyme's disease, often you can have Lyme's disease and not know for years. And they find out years later and they start doing these scans and they're like, you have a lot of problems. There has been this inner turmoil that has done all kinds of damage inside of you and you didn't know it. That's what happens inside the church. When we allow bugs into our faith.

When sound doctrine is allowed to be compromised, even in a little way. It's a bug that grows and spreads. The next is sound and love. This word love is agape. We've defined it a lot of times.

But it's a strong non-sexual affection and regard for another person and their good as Understood by God's moral character especially characterized by a willing Forfeiture of rights or privileges in another person's behalf It's not just a love that loves you when you are making me happy today. But it's a love that when my children have done something I don't like again, when they've left my tools out in the rain for the 500th time, it's this love that says we need to discuss discipline, but I still love you. You're still my child. It's a love that's not comprehendable. It is the love that God bestows upon his children, And God has called older men to bestow that same kind of love, not just on his family, but his church family, to love people unconditionally, even when it's hard.

The last is steadfastness. Steadfastness is also, the Greek word is also tied to endurance. It's the power to withstand hardship or stress, especially the inward fortitude necessary. Now you might be surprised at this, but even if you're not a believer, an older person, God is developing you in this. He's developing you in steadfastness.

You might say, what do you mean by that? And it's going to sound funny, but I identify with you. God is developing you in stubbornness. The older we get, the more stubborn we get. The older I get, the more it irritates me if my kids don't do things the way that I think it should be done.

I have to battle this in my head. I might tell Malachi to clean off a board. And Malachi is different than I am. In fact, it's not even wrong when he does. And I would tell you, my dad does it just how Malachi does it.

And it bothers me when he does it, too. Actually, let me give it a bigger illustration. Mowing the yard. When I mow the yard, there has to be an order to it. You can never halfway through going around decide I'm just going to take off across the middle of the yard.

That is wrong. But it really isn't. It annoys me like crazy. My dad does it and sometimes I see Malachi do it. But you know what?

Stubbornness wasn't meant for silly things like that. Stubbornness was built into us so that as we developed a lifetime of chasing God and knowing Him and knowing Scripture and knowing Him deeply, that when you, As scripture would define an older man, most would agree it would be 60 years or older. When we get into this age range, we should be so firmly established in the faith that this stubbornness helps us to cling to it. When we start to see the world try to change it around us and try to creep the bugs in it is the duty of the Older men to say no This isn't how we do it. We don't bring casinos to the front of the church We don't bring in fog machines and and all these things It's this stubbornness that God has built into us that we would cling to the faith, that we would cling to Scripture, that it would become all to us, that it's all important and we will not come apart from it.

Stubbornness can be a blessing. Stubbornness can save congregations from the bugs. Stubbornness can save them from disease. And why is it? Paul lists the reason.

Why is this so important? Why is it so important? Now obviously you can take me back to Titus 1 and we can go through all the qualifications of an elder and I'll be the first one to tell you, I am miserable about all of this. I can't live up to the perfection God has called me to. But I will tell you it's my desire.

And I will tell you I'm growing in this and so as we we point there We we change the the glass to the older men. I would it I would I'm not here just to beat you down There was a I can't remember who the quote was from, but he said, the preacher has an interesting job. He afflicts the comforted, but then he also comforts the afflicted. This morning I understand that we can't meet these perfectly, But I also understand that we are far from them. Why?

Why are these so important? Why should we chase after them? In Titus 2.5 he tells us the end of, he switches to the older women, he says, to be self-controlled, pure, working at home, kind and submissive to their own husbands. And here he gives a reason for this, that the Word of God might not be reviled. When we inside the church aren't living according to scriptural standards, when we're not pursuing God, when He is in all things to us, when we're not developing and being sanctified and being drawn closer to Christ, the world points its finger at the church and says, see, there's nothing different about those people.

They cling to their ancient book. It doesn't change them. Paul is saying we must do this that the Word of God might not be reviled, that God might not be shamed in us. How many of you young people like to shame your parents? I don't But if we don't live as God has called us to live we shame him we make him look bad We make the world say there's nothing in this for me Reason number two is the church needs you.

Older men, if you read this and you say, I don't really measure up to this, today is a new day. Today is the day to come to Christ and say, Christ, I want you to be all things. I want to grow in these things. God, I put my trust in you. I turn from these things.

Help me to grow and be as scripture has called me to be. One, because I don't want you to be reviled. Two, the church needs you. I believe at some point, and I'm trying not to preach all morning long, but I believe at some point when the church changed from proclaiming God's word and changed over to pragmatism because it said We've got to get people into the church at all costs, and we want people to be saved so bad that we're going to think of formulas and things like that to be able to put a mark on our list that something terrible happened within the church. The first is the breakdown of the family.

Our culture desires this deeply. It is a tactic of the enemy to break the family down. But let me tell you how it started in the church. We started to say, these older people, they just don't understand what it's going to take to get people to come to church anymore. I was in a church that the pastor of this church told me, they had problems with the older people getting upset about some of the things they were doing.

So we built them an entire room on the back of the church and they have their own club over there and we do our thing here. I can't tell you how sinful that is. I can't tell you how offensive to God's word that is. But I believe we've also done it due to lack of involvement. I am thankful for the the adult Sunday school class, but I believe it could be more.

The church doesn't need you to be your own separate group. The young people in here need the older men. The middle-aged people in here, they need you older men. I believe if anything, the older men are the life of the church apart from Christ. That God has called you to more and more serving him.

I don't believe that we get to a certain age and our culture says you retire from your work and so we retire from the church. The church increasingly needs you. The church increasingly needs you to serve and to mentor and to love people and to draw them closer to Christ, to share your experience, to minister to them. Notice in Titus in this chapter, it talks about your instruction. It's not just for the elected elders of the church to instruct, but it is for all of us to instruct each other.

Older men and older women, you are desperately needed in your church. You're needed to demonstrate dignity, to demonstrate self-control, to demonstrate true faith, true love, and steadfastness. But I would tell you, across America and across the world, this isn't what we see much anymore. This last few nights during revival, it's been brought up, the first night especially, the problem of easy believism or cheap grace. This idea that, you've heard me say it a thousand times, this idea of praying a prayer or being baptized or whatever it might be, somehow changes you from death to life.

That now, as my son got on his birthday Golden get out of jail free card for monopoly But people in easy believism believe that if they pray this prayer they're baptized They've got this golden get out of hell free card And what a great thing this is they'll put it in her pocket and and someday when they stand face to face with God Wherever they might be they're gonna pull this out of their pocket and say but God I prayed the magic prayer As we've heard again and the revival services salvation has nothing to do with praying a prayer. It has nothing to do with being baptized. But it is turning from your sin and making a commitment to Christ that he becomes new. It says, if you are in Christ, you are a new creation, as Brother Rusty shared. If you are in Christ, then this is true.

You are a new creation. You no longer live for yourself. Look at Matthew 16, 24-25. It says, Then Jesus told his disciples, If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me for Whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it It's these scriptures that we tend to go over. We tend to read over it and we continue on.

But this, as was explained Friday, when it says take up our cross, it means we are putting ourselves to death. That what I want is no longer important. That my schedule is no longer important. That my finances are no longer important. That the things that I love are no longer important because I have a new affection.

If I'm in Christ, He is all things. He is what I live for. But our culture says, pray a prayer. Live however you want. Live just like your neighbors.

Wear a Christian t-shirt if you're not feeling good about yourself. That is not scriptural. Now you can wear a Christian t-shirt, you can do those things. But to be in Christ means you're a new creation. And why do I go here?

Because this is the bug, a Bug that has crept into the church many many many years ago And it didn't seem like that big it seemed like a good thing We're getting more people into the kingdom. We're able to honor. We don't have this because we're not a denominational church. But when I was credentialed in a denominational church, every year I had to make this report. How many people prayed a prayer?

How many people were baptized? And I had to send it into the district and and if we had the top number of people during this then at convention we could go on the stage and they would sing praises about how great we were in our church now that's that's extreme that's exaggerating but but it was there People knew the numbers we wrote down, the reports were published. And so we came up with this plan. Well, if people are genuinely saved, they pray a prayer of repentance. That's what they do.

So if we could just get them to just pray this prayer then then we can mark them on our paper this in turn led to decades of people believing all they have to do to go to heaven is to pray a prayer their lives weren't changed they were the same as the person that lived next door to him they they as Charles Spurgeon said to his congregation he said I could probably write the word damnation in the dust of your Bibles. They didn't care about the things of God. They said they did, but their priorities and the time they invested in things didn't show it. They weren't changed. And because of that, we no longer had people to look up to in the church.

When I was working in a church, There was someone I knew really well, someone that was actually, I think they start, they were one of the original members of the church. They aren't alive today, but they were very old. They were in their 80s And I remember one time during the service, during the prayer request time, they raised their hand. They wanted to share because their great grandchild had passed away. And their brother or sister was at the funeral.

And they said it was so beautiful because They just started praying and talking to their brother that had died and praying about how much they missed him. And the whole time I'm sitting there I'm thinking, this isn't just a bug. This is blasphemy. This is blasphemy. This person has been in church their entire life.

They're more than 80 years old, and they are sharing blasphemy. How do we not know what scripture says? And it comes back to easy believism. This is something we do on Sunday We check our box we go back to our jobs We go back to our lives. We go back to our entertainment It has no change in us We're no longer the rocks the church needs us to be.

This morning if you are, and I'm not saying this is true of anybody, only you know your heart, but if this is true of you, I would beg you to come to Christ." In conclusion, let me share with you an illustration that Pastor Ken shared. He said there was a guy who was visiting another guy that had these dogs, and his dog started chasing this rabbit through the woods. He heard it barking and just this dog was having a heyday and chasing it all over. As this dog went through some different neighbors yards, all of a sudden these other dogs started joining in with it. And it started to go around town.

You started to hear, all of a sudden you started hearing just tons of dogs running through the woods all around, barking and barking and barking. And then as time went on, after an hour or so, they started to fall off. You heard less and less and less until it was just his dog still chasing this rabbit through the woods. And he said, but I don't understand. How come your dog continues to chase the rabbit and the other dogs they don't they just went back home It seems strange.

Why wouldn't they all just continue to chase? And he said the answer to your question is this, my dog is the only dog that actually saw the rabbit. The others joined in with the camaraderie. They thought They might see what it is that this dog was chasing. But after a while they said, you know what, I don't think he's chasing anything.

And they fell away. The question this morning is, it's not just to the older men. The question is to everyone who sits here today. Have we seen Jesus? Has He changed us?

Is He precious to you? Do you know Him? Because if you haven't seen Him, If you're only going through the motions, if you're only checking the boxes, I guarantee you, you will give up. You will call it quits. Maybe you'll stop coming to church completely, but maybe you'll still come week after week after week because the other dogs, Or I don't want to call you dogs the other people are here, and they're good to see and I kind of like those people But inside you are checked out Through the rest of the week Jesus isn't all that important you wouldn't say anything bad against him But you don't have time for this you don't have time to be praying as you should you don't have time to be Reading the scripture as you should and studying and and chasing after him as you should This morning and Sunday school Brother Jake shared something that was deeply important to me.

I don't know if you guys saw me check out, but I just checked out and just lived in this for a minute. Two weeks ago, I read to you from 2nd Corinthians 12 or 11 about the beatings and the things that the things that Paul went through his tribulations and beatings and shipwrecks and all these things and listen to what Paul says After he lists all that he says and then I have this he says and apart from other things There's the daily pressure on me of my anxiety for all of the churches I can tell you this weighs heavily on your pastor. This is an explanation of things that I just have deeply been struggling with. And Paul lays it out, and I would agree with Paul, I would rather be beaten than to spend my nights wondering, do people know Christ? God, am I doing something wrong?

Are there people who aren't changing their lifestyles? Are people not making Him all things to them because of something of me? And Father, what could I do to change this? Father, I love these people. I don't want them to be deceived.

As Pastor Ken said, I don't want to hurt your feelings, but I don't want anybody in here to stand before Christ and say, but Pastor Ken never told me this. I have deep anxiety, not just for us, but for churches all across the world who have checked boxes, who believe they're saved, who have prayed the prayer. But Christ isn't all things to them. Christ is a get out of jail free card. And I think it's in Matthew 7, where Jesus says, that not everyone comes to me and says Lord Lord will enter the kingdom of heaven This easy believism is is more than just a bug It is a disease that is leading many many many many people to hell.

This morning I would ask you to examine yourself. If there's even one in here this morning that's in this checkbox system that thinks that just because they came to church today or just because they prayed a prayer or was baptized at some point, but I'm not really changed. I've never really seen the rabbit. It's not that big of a deal. I'm not gonna give everything to Christ this morning.

I would peg you to repent, to turn to Christ, flee to the cross that you might live. And if you're here this morning and you've never heard this, or you don't really know what I'm even talking about, The Bible says that if this morning God would call you to him if today We would die and stand before him that he is a righteous judge, and he will examine your life in fact He's been keeping a record of your life and any time that you've told a lie or any time that you've stolen anything Anytime that you've broken his commandments. He's kept an account, And He is storing up wrath for the day of wrath. The Bible says that if you were to stand with your righteousness, God would rightly punish you for all of eternity, and He would be good for doing it. But the Bible also says He is rich in mercy.

And no matter where you're at, no matter if you're an older man or an older woman or the youngest person in this room, this morning if you would turn from your sin and turn from your righteousness and turn to Christ and follow Him. The Bible says that when He died on the cross, He took the punishment on your behalf. And this morning, Your responsibility is simply to turn to Him in repentance and faith. To turn from what you want, to turn from yourself. To put yourself and your desires to death and to make Him first.

The Bible says that you will be saved because of his work. But this morning, your responsibility is this, that you must turn to Christ, and you must follow him. Are you the rich young ruler who he says, turn from your money. And he puts his head down sad and walks away. Jesus says if you will lose your life for his sake, you will find it.

Let's pray. Will find it. Let's pray. Father, we come to you this morning, Father, thankful that we once again have opportunity to come to you. Father I am so thankful for the older men of this church.

Father I pray that their influence would grow. I pray that they would grow closer to you as I do pray for all of us. But God, I pray, one, that we don't treat them as if their time is over. Because God, I believe this is the most important time of their life. God, I pray that The older men in this church would set an example, would mentor, would take young people under their wing, would show them what it is to know Christ and to live for Him.

Father, because the church needs them. But God, I also pray that these gifts that you've given us, that we wouldn't turn them to things that are a hindrance to the church. I pray that the stubbornness in my heart, Father, wouldn't cause me to be stubborn about things that aren't important. But I'd be stubborn about Christ. I'd be stubborn about your Word.

So Father, I pray that you would bless these older men. If they're here this morning then they're under conviction Father. I pray that you would draw them to you. And I know that our flesh causes us not to be temperate. He causes us not to be self controlled, but God let us make war against our flesh, let us put our trust in you.

Father for everyone here, Father the more I read and the more I look to what's happening in this world, if we haven't truly seen Christ, We're not going to last. Whether physically or mentally checked out, we're not going to last. God, I pray, I would plead, Father, draw hearts to You. I pray, Father, if there are any who don't know You, that You would make them a new creation, that You would change their heart, that You would grant repentance and grant us faith, Father, I ask in Jesus' name, Amen. If you'd all stand, we'll sing a song together.

If I could pray for you, feel free to come forward. I'd be blessed to do that. I think I've heard of the one for once to be survived. Come to God's hotel, come, raise the song of our best hope. Long the world is God's own field, through and to his grace to yield.

He has danced and never sung, to joy or sorrow's call. First, we'll wait and then we'll hear, and the full crown shall appear. Lord, our Lord, our God, shall come, And shall take his heart as stone, From his field shall aim at day, All the blessed birds of prey. No charge at last in the fire that dares to cast, Love of her full is restored, in its glory evermore. Even so, Lord, bring me home to thy final harvest home.

Gather thou my people in freedom's sorrow, freedom's sin. There forever purify in thy presence to the fire. God's good, amen? God's good amen amen you can be seated Thank you.