(Disclaimer: This transcript is auto-generated and may contain mistakes.)

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Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Good morning and welcome. Let's find our seats and take our song books. Turn to song 412. 412. Onward. On the first. Yeah. I like it. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. On the last. Yeah. We're glad you're with us. And of course, we'd like to begin the service with a word of prayer. So let's go ahead and bow our heads and have a word of prayer together. Heavenly Father, Lord, we do thank you for allowing us to gather together on a Sunday morning. Well, we pray that you would bless today. We pray that you'd bless the preaching of your word, the singing, the fellowship. We pray that everything that's done today will bring honor and glory to your name. In Jesus name we pray. Amen. Turn to song 210. I'm losing my voice so please help me out. Wonderful Grace. Wonderful Grace. Wonderful Grace. Wonderful Grace. Wonderful Grace. Wonderful Grace. Wonderful Grace. Wonderful Grace. Wonderful Grace. Wonderful Grace. Wonderful Grace. Wonderful Grace. Wonderful Grace. Wonderful Grace. Wonderful Grace. Wonderful Grace. Wonderful Grace. Wonderful Grace. Wonderful Grace. Amen. All right. Well, let's go ahead and take our bulletins this morning and we'll look at some announcements quickly this morning. If you did not receive a bulletin on your way in, just raise your hand and one of our ushers can get one for you. If you need a bulletin, just put your hand up and we will get one for you. The verse this week, Ephesians 5, 2, and walk in love as Christ also hath loved us and hath given himself for us an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweet smelling savor. And that's a good verse there. We like that. If you open up your bulletin, you'll see our service time, Sunday morning service, 10.30 a.m. We're glad you're with us, of course, on a Sunday morning on the Lord's Day. And we do invite you to be back tonight at 6 p.m. for the evening service. The evening service is different than the morning service, different songs that are sung, different sermon that's preached, just one more opportunity to be in God's house with God's people under the preaching of the word of God. And of course, tonight is a special service. It's our graduation service and we'll talk about that here in a minute. So we'd love for you to join us and make plans to join us tonight. And then, of course, our Wednesday evening Bible study at 7 p.m. It's our midweek service. We call it the most encouraging service of the week. And we'd love for you to join us on Wednesday nights. If you look at our soul-winning times, our main soul-winning times on Saturday mornings at 10 a.m. And soul-winning, of course, is when we go out in the community, we knock doors, we invite people to church, and we preach the gospel to anyone who's interested. We have additional soul-winning times on Thursdays and Fridays and Sundays at 2 p.m. So we'd love for you to join us for any of those soul-winning times. If you are a first-time guest, if it's your first time here at Verity Baptist Church, we're glad you're with us. And we have a gift we'd like to give you. As you walk out of the church building this morning, if you go out our main foyer or if you go out our secondary foyer, you'll see a little table set up. And on that table, you'll see these little gift bags. Please grab one on your way out as a gift from us to you for being our guest this morning. There are several resources in this bag that we'd like you to have, but the one I'd like to highlight is this documentary that our church made. It's called Being Baptist. It's very well made, very interesting. We think you'll like it. We think you'll enjoy it. I tell people that it's educational, it's entertaining, and we want to give this gift. So please make sure you don't leave here without grabbing one of these gift bags on your way out. And if you are a guest, we'd ask that you please take a moment to fill out the communication card, which is inserted in your bulletin. And if you need a pen, you can just raise your hand, and one of our ushers will bring you by a Verity Baptist Church pen. You're welcome to keep the pen as a gift from us as well. We are not going to do anything odd with your info. We would just like a record of your attendance. We actually would like to send you a little gift, but we need your information to do that. So please take a moment to fill out the communication card. When we're done with the announcements, we're going to sing a song. When we're done singing, we're going to receive the offering. And as the offering plate goes by, you can drop the communication card in the offering plate, and we would love for you to just take a moment to that. Or you can hand it to me after the service. I'll be standing at the main door greeting people on the way out. If you look at our announcements there, we of course are a family integrated church. What that means is that children and infants are always welcome in the service. We do not separate children from their parents for any reason. We do have mother-baby rooms and daddy rooms available for your convenience. All of the rooms have comfortable seating. They've got monitors set up so you can watch the service and listen to it. So if you have a child that's been distracting during the service, or if you need some privacy, we would encourage you to use those rooms. If you're not sure where they're at, you can look at the back of your bulletin, and you'll see a layout of our church building. It'll show you where the mother-baby rooms are, where the daddy room is. It'll show you where the restrooms are, so please make sure you use those. If you need to be baptized, please let us know. We'd love to baptize you. You can just, on the back of your communication card, you can check off that you would like information about baptism, and we will follow up with you and talk to you about that and answer whatever questions you have. If you've already spoken to somebody, you know you need to be baptized, then all you need to do is at the end of the service, after the preaching while we're singing the last song, if you step out that door, one of our staff guys will meet you there, and we'll get you situated for baptism this morning. If you look at the announcements and upcoming events, of course tonight is a special service. We have our graduation service tonight, and it's something we do every year here at Ready Baptist Church. We have a big homeschool group here, about 90 kids in our homeschool group, and we like to have a graduation service for the homeschoolers, of course, and give them an opportunity to be able to walk down the aisle and receive their diplomas. So that's going to be tonight at 6 p.m., and it's not too late to sign up. As part of our graduation service, of course, if you've graduated kindergarten or high school and you're part of our homeschool group, then we would love for you to participate, and you can walk across the platform, receive your diploma, and if you have graduated any other grade, sixth grade, eighth grade, or if you're not part of our homeschool group and you've graduated from another school, kindergarten, sixth grade, eighth grade, high school, college, whatever, we would love to recognize you tonight. So you can fill out your communication card on the back, give us that information, and there is going to be pizza and fellowship after the service tonight. So tonight, after the evening service in the fellowship hall, we're going to have pizza and a time of fellowship, so we encourage you to be back tonight. Even if you don't normally come on Sunday nights, tonight's a Sunday night. You want to be here, all right? It's going to be a good time, and it's nice to see. We've got a big graduating class of kindergartners. I think there's like six kindergartners graduating, and that's always fun to watch them walk the aisle and get their diploma. So make sure you're here tonight. If you are participating in the graduation service tonight, meaning you're actually walking to receive your diploma, we need you to be here tonight at 5 p.m., so just an hour before the evening service for a quick rehearsal, and please don't forget about that, moms. Please make a note of that. If you look at the announcements there, we've got a lot of announcements. Striving Together New Members class is next Sunday, June 11th, at 1230 p.m., immediately after the morning service, or right after the morning service. If you're part of the New Members class, we're going to head into the fellowship hall. We're going to have a nice catered lunch for you, and then we're going to have a class as well. And anyone who has not been part of our New Members class, you're welcome to be a part. It's a class meant for newer people in our church, and it's just a time where we can get to know you better, spend some time with you, and you can get to know us, and you can ask us questions and things like that. So if you've not been part of our New Members class, we'd love for you to be a part of it. It is one of the steps to becoming a member of our church, but you don't have to want to be a member to come to the New Members class. You just come to find out more about our church, and that's fine as well. So Striving Together New Members class, please make note of that on Sunday, June 11th, after the morning service in the fellowship hall. And then we've got a soul-winning marathon coming up, San Jose Soul-Winning Marathon, on Saturday, June 17th, at 930 a.m. And there's going to be an all-day soul-winning marathon in San Jose. This is being headed up by Brother RJ, so if you have any questions, please see Brother RJ. The meeting location is there for you, and the address lunch will be provided, but you need to sign up on your communication card. If you're going to be there, let us know so that we can make plans for all of the different food and things like that. It's been a while since we've had a soul-winning marathon, so we hope you'll get excited about this one. San Jose Soul-Winning Marathon on Saturday, June 17th. We have a video that will be going out tomorrow, so just keep an eye out for that. And then, of course, Father's Day is around the corner, Sunday, June 18th, and please join us for that. We'll have the t-shirts for all of the men, all the boys and men. Verity Baptist Church t-shirts as a gift that day. We'll have special music that day as well, so we'd love for you to join us. The discipleship class begins on Sunday, June 25th, at 5 p.m. And this is an eight-week class covering just some fundamental biblical truths. And this class is for anyone. If you're a new believer, this class is for you. And this class is meant to help you go further, faster, and teach you some fundamental things that you need. But even if you're not a not-so-new believer, but if you've never gone through a structured discipleship course, then we'd love for you to be a part of this. And, of course, it's absolutely free. You can sign up on your communication card. They meet in the fellowship hall on Sunday nights at 5 p.m. There's an eight-week commitment there, so please join that or sign up for that if you'd like. Our choir practice begins on Sunday, June 11th, at 5 p.m. here in the auditorium. You're going to start practicing for our Red Hot Preaching Conference, so make sure you're aware of that. There's other things there for you to look at. Please don't forget to turn your cell phones off or place them on silent during the service so that they're not a distraction to anybody. If you look at the back of the bulletin, birthdays and anniversaries for the month of June. Today is Noah Deacon's birthday on June 4th, and also Ms. Ruby Roldan's birthday on June 4th. And then tomorrow, June 5th, is Ms. J.C. Barlow's birthday, Noah Laqueta's birthday, Ms. Rebecca Lunsford's birthday. My wife and I are actually celebrating 19 years of marriage tomorrow on June 5th. And then later this week, we have Avery Rosenberg's birthday on June 7th, Ms. Michelle Scott's birthday on June 7th, Brother Ryan Gibbs' birthday on June 7th, and Brother Adam and Ms. Kimi Gessler have an anniversary on June 10th. Praise Report, Money Matters, all of those things are there for you to look at. I do have one baptism certificate to hand out this morning, and I'll go ahead and read this certificate of baptism. This certificate is awarded to Henrietta Johnson in recognition of her baptism on the seventh day of May of the year 2023, presented by Verity Baptist Church, and of course it has the verse, therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death. That, like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we should walk in newness of life. And we've got pictures here, of course, for Ms. Henrietta to remember the day of her baptism. And let's go ahead and give her a round of applause. Amen. All right. Well, I think that's it for the announcement. So we're going to go ahead and sing the chorus of the week, which is the insert in your bulletin. And we're going to sing the law of the Lord is perfect as we prepare to receive the offering this morning. And this is actually a psalm put to word, Psalm 19 verses 7 through 10, and we'll go ahead and sing it out on the first. The law of the Lord is perfect, converting the soul. The testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple. More to be deep fired are they than gold, given much by gold. Also then, money and money flow. Let's sing it out on the second. The statues of the Lord are light, rejoicing the heart. Madness of the Lord is pure, enlightening the eyes. More to be deep fired are they than gold, given much by gold. More also than money and money flow. Let's sing it out on the last. The fear of the Lord is free, enduring forever. Thy judgments of the Lord are true and righteous altogether. More to be deep fired are they than gold, given much by gold. More also than money and money flow. Amen. Good singing. We'll have the guys come up and help us with the offering at this time. And let's go ahead and bow our heads and have a word of prayer. Heavenly Father, Lord, we do come to you this morning asking that you bless the offering, the gift and the giver. Lord, we pray that you'd meet with us as we take time and go through your word. Lord, help us to learn, help us to be challenged, help us to draw closer to you. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Turn your Bibles to Joshua chapter 14. Turn your Bibles to Joshua chapter 14. Joshua chapter 14. If you do not have a Bible, raise your hand and an usher will bring you one. Joshua chapter 14. We will read the entire chapter as is our custom. Joshua chapter 14. Just keep your hands up and an usher will bring you a Bible. Joshua 14, the Bible reads, and these are the countries which the children of Israel inherited in the land of Canaan, which Eliezer the priest and Joshua the son of Nun and the heads of the fathers of the tribes of the children of Israel distributed for inheritance to them. By lot was their inheritance as the Lord commanded by the hand of Moses for the nine tribes and for the half tribe. For Moses had given the inheritance of two tribes and a half tribe on the other side of Jordan, but unto the Levites he gave none inheritance among them. For the children of Joseph were two tribes, Manasseh and Ephraim, therefore they gave no part unto the Levites in the land, save cities to dwell in with their suburbs for their cattle and for their substance. As the Lord commanded Moses, so the children of Israel did, and they divided the land. Then the children of Judah came unto Joshua and Gilgal, and Caleb the son of Jephunneh the Kenzite said unto them, Thou knowest the thing that the Lord said unto Moses the man of God concerning me and thee and Kadesh Barnea. Forty years old was I when Moses the servant of the Lord sent me from Kadesh Barnea to spy out the land, and I brought him word again as it was in mine heart. Nevertheless, my brethren that went up with me made the heart of the people melt, but I wholly followed the Lord my God. And Moses sware on that day, saying, Surely the land whereof thy feet have trodden shall be thine inheritance, and thy children's forever, because thou hast wholly followed the Lord my God. And now, behold, the Lord hath kept me alive, as he said, these forty and five years, even since the Lord spake this word unto Moses, while the children of Israel wandered in the wilderness. And now, lo, I am this day fourscore and five years old, and yet I am as strong this day as I was in the day that Moses sent me. As my strength was then, even so is my strength now, for war, both to go out and to come in. Now, therefore, give me this mountain, whereof the Lord spake in that day, for thou hast heardest in that day how the Anakims were there, and that the cities were great and fenced. If so be the Lord will be with me, then I shall be able to drive them out, as the Lord said. And Joshua blessed him, and gave unto Caleb, the son of Jephunneh, Hebron, for an inheritance. And Hebron therefore became the inheritance of Caleb, the son of Jephunneh the Kensite, unto this day, because that he wholly followed the Lord God of Israel. And the name of Hebron before was Kurzotharba, which Arba was a great man among the Anakims, and the land had rest from war. Let us pray. Lord God Almighty, thank you for this day. Thank you for this opportunity to come together. Please bless Pastor and the message. Let it bring glory and honor to you. In the name of Jesus Christ, I pray. Amen. Amen. All right, we're there in Joshua chapter number 14. I would like you to keep your finger right there in Joshua 14. We're going to come right back to it, but I would like you, if you could, to go with me to the New Testament book of 1 Timothy, 1 Timothy chapter number 5. In the New Testament, if you can find the T-books, they're all clustered together, 1 Thessalonians, 1 Timothy and Titus, and if you could find 1 Timothy chapter 5. Keep your place in Joshua. We're going to come back to it. But go to 1 Timothy chapter 5, and then do me a favor. When you get to 1 Timothy, put a ribbon or a bookmark or a bulletin or something there because we're going to leave it, and we're going to come back to 1 Timothy and 2 Timothy throughout the sermon, so I'd like you to be able to find it quickly. And while you turn there, let me just go ahead and give some introductory statements. Of course, we are going through a series on Sunday mornings entitled Helping People Reach Their Full Potential. And if you remember, we started this several weeks ago. This is now the eighth sermon in this series. There will probably be a total of ten, maybe eleven sermons in this series. And I began the sermon series with a couple of general sermons. If you remember, I started with a sermon entitled Untapped Potential, and we learned about the fact that we all have potential. No matter how good we are, we're not good enough, and we all can grow. And then, of course, I preached another sermon after that called How to Reach Your Full Potential, and we talked about generally how we personally could reach our full potential. Since then, I've been preaching some very specific sermons, and I preached a sermon entitled How to Help Your Husband Reach His Potential. I preached a sermon entitled How to Help Your Wife Reach Her Potential. I preached a sermon entitled How to Reach Your Full Potential as a Mother. And I preached a sermon entitled How to Help Your Children Reach Their Full Potential. Last week, I preached to the young people, to the teenagers, how to reach your potential as a teen. So I've been going through these very specific sermons, and this morning is going to be no different. I'm preaching a very specific sermon this morning, and I'm preaching on the subject of how to reach your full potential as a senior saint, how to reach your full potential as a senior saint. And throughout the sermon, I'm going to be using this term senior saint, and that's how I grew up hearing that term, and it is a reference to older believers. Let me just kind of begin by explaining what a senior saint is, or if you can consider yourself a senior saint, in 1 Timothy 5. And I don't have time to go through the entire chapter and explain the context, but in 1 Timothy, the apostle Paul has explained to Timothy that the church has a responsibility to meet the needs of widows, and there are some very specific things, qualifications, as to when a church has the responsibility to meet the need of widows, so don't hear that and think that every widow is supposed to have her needs met by the church. In fact, if you're interested, you can study 1 Timothy 5, and you'll notice that, like the qualifications of a pastor, there are some very specific things that need to be met in regards to do that. But one of those things is that they have to be a certain age, and I only bring that up to say this, that the Bible tells us when God considers you a senior or an elder person. 1 Timothy 5, look down at verse number 9, 1 Timothy 5 and verse 9, the Bible says, Let not a widow be taken into the number under three score years old. A score is 20, three score is three times 20, that's 60 years old, having been the wife of one man. So you'll notice here, and again, these are qualifications for a widow to have her needs met by the church, but I want you to notice that one of the qualifications was that she had to be an elder, older, and the Bible defines that as three score years old. So according to the Bible, you can consider yourself a senior when you are 60 years old and up. So let me just say this, if you are here this morning and you are 60 years old and up, then this sermon is for you, alright? And this sermon is for you, and I had the staff guys go through our different lists that we have and different things we have for the church, and I had them count all of the church members that we have here at Verity Baptist Church that are 60 years old and up, and our church runs somewhere around 220, I think we've got 221 people in church this morning, and of those 220, about 28 of them are what we would consider senior saints. We've got 28 people that come to this church or members of this church that are 60 years old and up. Let me just say this as well, if you don't like the sermon and you want to blame somebody, you can blame brother John Reed, alright? Because this sermon was actually his idea, and last week, after I got done preaching to the teens, usually I'm pretty organized with these sermon series, but I had one week that I wasn't sure which direction I was going to go. I know when I'm going to preach next week, I know when I'm going to preach after that, but I had this one week that I was just not sure which direction I wanted to go, and last week, after I got done preaching to the teens, brother John walks up to me and he asks the question, he says, Pastor, is there going to be a sermon for the older folks? And when he said that, when he said that to me, I was kind of facing the crowd and he was facing me, and as the words came out of his mouth, I saw brother Vijay and Miss Joyce walk by, I saw brother Fred and Miss Connie walk by, and I thought to myself, yes, yes, there will be, and it's good, you know, it's good. So let me just say this, if you are older, if you are 60 years old and up, then this sermon is for you. The rest of you, let me say this, this sermon is also for you because of the fact that you say, I'm not 60 years old and up, but if you are young, you are getting older every day, and Lord willing, you're going to make it to 60, and this sermon will be for you as well. So it's always good when the Word of God is open, and it's always good when the Bible is preached. Keep your place there in 1 Timothy, if you would, and go back to John chapter 14, and I want to give you several statements this morning on the subject of how to reach your full potential as a senior saint, and I'm going to give you eight statements, actually, and you can jot these down if you'd like, and I always encourage you to take notes. They're a little lengthy. These sermons have been a lot of lists and lengthy things, but I want you to see them. In Joshua chapter 14 and verse 6, we have a story of a man named Caleb. In Joshua 14 and verse 6, the Bible says this, Then the children of Judah came unto Joshua and Gilgal, and Caleb the son of Jephuneth the Kenizzite said unto him, this is Caleb speaking to Joshua, Thou knowest the things that the Lord said unto Moses the man of God concerning me and thee in Kadesh Barnea. And I don't have time to go into it. I'm sure you're familiar with it. We'll actually get to it in our Sunday night sermon series in the book of Numbers, the Wilderness Wanderings. But if you remember, Moses sent twelve spies into Canaan to spy out the land. Twelve men went to Canaan, and ten were bad and two were good. But ten came back with an evil report. They said there are giants in the land and we can't take the land. And they scared the people. But two came back with a good report, and those were Joshua and Caleb. And this is what Caleb is now, forty years later, is speaking to Joshua. Of course, we know that after the death of Moses, Joshua became the leader of the children of Israel. And Caleb is now speaking to Joshua because of the fact that the children of Israel were scared to enter the Promised Land because of the evil report of the ten spies. God punished them and caused them to wander in the wilderness for forty years. So Joshua chapter fourteen is forty and five years or forty and six years after that because now they've wandered the wilderness. That generation has died. Think about this. Everyone has died except for Joshua and Caleb. And Caleb is probably the oldest guy in the nation at this time. And they have now crossed the Jordan River. They've conquered the land. And Joshua is being met by Caleb and Caleb is saying these things to him. Joshua fourteen, look at verse seven. Notice what Caleb says. He says, Forty years old was I, when Moses the servant of the Lord sent me from Kadesh Barnea to spy out the land, and I brought him word again, as it was in mine heart. So Caleb is reminding Joshua. Remember when we went to Kadesh Barnea and that whole debacle happened? He said, Forty years old. I was forty years old when that happened. Skip down to verse number ten and I don't have time to go through this whole thing. But notice there verse ten. He says, And now behold, the Lord hath kept me alive. Now he says that because of the fact that everyone in that generation died in the wilderness. All the adults in the wilderness died except for Caleb and Joshua. And he says, The Lord hath kept me alive. As he said, these forty and five years, of course, forty years that they wandered in the wilderness, five years that they've now been conquering the land in the land of Canaan. He says, Even since the Lord spake this word unto Moses, while the children of Israel wandered in the wilderness, and now lo, I am this day four score and five years old. If you remember again, a score is twenty, four score is eighty. That's why Abraham said four score in his speech. And here Caleb says, I am this day four score and five years old. So he says, I'm eighty five years old. That's what we would call a senior saint or we might call him the president of the United States. I'm not sure. But he says, I'm this day four score and five years old. And he says, unlike the president of the United States, verse eleven, As yet I am as strong this day as I was in the day that Moses sent me. As my strength was then, even so is my strength now for war both to go out and to come in. So I want you to notice that we have this man, Caleb, who's a godly man. And he's an eighty five year old man at this point. Joshua fourteen, speaking to Joshua. And he's telling him, hey, forty years old was I when we started this thing. He said, I am this day four score and five years old. He says, I am forty five years later. I'm an eighty five year old man. And he says, but I'm still strong. I can still do things. Notice verse twelve. He says, now, therefore, and he says these words, he says, give me this mountain. And of course, he's referring to the fact that he wants to conquer a piece of ground that is being held by the Anakims and he wants to conquer. And this is where we get the song. I want that mountain. It belongs to me. It's from Caleb going to Joshua and saying, give me that mountain. He said, I want to take that mountain. He says, now, therefore, give me this mountain where of the Lord spake in that day for thou heardest in that day how the Anakims were there and that the cities were great and fenced and fenced. If so be the Lord will be with me. Notice what he says. He says, then I shall be able to drive them out. As the Lord said, I want you to get the picture here, because what Caleb is saying is he's saying, look, Joshua, you know that 45 years ago when I was a 40 year old man, we went into the Promised Land and we came back and you and I gave a positive report. We said, yes, there are giants. Yes, there are strongholds. But God is able to give us the land. And the other men were scared. And as a result, we spent 40 years wandering in the wilderness. He said, but now we've crossed into the Promised Land. We're here. And he says, I have not forgot about that mountain. He says, in fact, I still want to take that mountain. He says, give me that mountain. He says, and the Lord will be with me. Then I shall be able to drive them out. As the Lord said, he said, 45 years ago, God said we could take that mountain and I'm calling God's promises today. And I want that mountain. It belongs to me. That's what Caleb is saying. What's amazing about it is that these words are not being said by a 25 year old or a 35 year old, but they're being said by an 85 year old. And here's the first point that I'd like to make this morning for those of you that are Senior Saints and for those of you that are going to make it to Senior Saints, and I hope it's all of you. And it is this, number one, to reach your full potential as a Senior Saint, you must realize that you are not done. You still have more potential. There are still things for you to do. Caleb, an 85 year old man, the oldest man in the nation of Israel, has now entered the Promised Land. The nation has now successfully conquered the land. You'd think he could retire. I mean, you'd think he would ask for, hey, don't give me that mountain. Give me that swamp. Let me call it Florida. I'll go golfing there. You'd think he would say, I can just sit now for the rest of my life. I can just relax for the rest of my life. But no, what we see is an 85 year old man who says, give me this mountain. He says, the Lord will be with me. Then I shall be able to drive them out as the Lord said. And in Caleb, we find an example of an 85 year old man who said, I'm not done. Who said, I still have more to do. I still have more to accomplish. There's still more potential that I can fulfill. And I would say to you this morning, if you are here this morning and you are 60 years old enough, that you're not done. By God's grace, you're here and God has you here for a reason and a purpose. And to reach your full potential, you must realize that you still have more to do. So number one, to reach your full potential as a senior saint, you must realize that you're not done. You still have more potential. There's still more for you to do. There's still more mountains to take, more battles to fight, more conquering that can be done. So we should have, as we grow older, the Caleb spirit. Often we talk about the Joshua generation and the Joshua generation exemplifying the next generation. But we should also consider the Caleb generation. The Caleb generation, the older senior saints who say, I still have more to do. Go to Proverbs, if you would, Proverbs chapter 16. You can lose your place there in Joshua. Find your place in Proverbs. You still have your place in 1 Timothy, I believe. And I'd like you to go to Proverbs. If you open your Bible just right in the center, you'll more than likely fall in the book of Psalms. Right after Psalms, you have the book of Proverbs, Proverbs chapter 16. And when you get to Proverbs, I'd like you to put a ribbon or a bookmark or something there because we're going to leave it and we're going to come back to it. We're going to come back and forth between these two parts of the Bible, Psalms and Proverbs and 1 and 2 Timothy. So I'd like you to keep your place in those general areas, Proverbs and 2 Timothy. We're talking about how to reach your full potential as a senior saint. Number one, you must realize that you're not done. You still have more potential. Number two, to reach your full potential as a senior saint, you must determine to finish the Christian life well. You must determine to finish the Christian life well. I'm amazed by the fact and I'm impressed by the fact and I love the fact that we've got close to 30 faithful senior saints here that call Verity Baptist Church their home. I'm humbled by the fact that we've got close to 30 senior saints that would call me pastor and call my wife their pastor's wife. And it's an amazing thing. These individuals have, of course, they hold a dear place in my heart. And that's why I think a sermon like this is so beneficial. Not to mention also that I've got, I'm pretty sure the three full-time staff guys I've got around here are all senior saints as well. I didn't verify that one, but I think they might be. To reach your full potential as a senior saint, you must determine to finish your Christian life well. I'd like you to notice Proverbs 16 and verse 31. Proverbs chapter 16 and verse 31. I want you to notice what the Bible says here. The Bible says, The hoary head, the word hoary means grayish, silver, white, referring to white hairs. And of course, this is referring to age. And by the way, I'm not that, I'm 37 years old, but I'm starting to develop quite a hoary head myself. And that has to do with the stress of the ministry. But here the Bible says the hoary head is a crown of glory. I want you to notice this, though, because here's what the Bible says. It says the hoary head is a crown of glory, referring to the fact that age and being older and having physical attributes that show us that you're older. He says it's a crown of glory. And then he says this, if it be found in the way of righteousness. And I would say to you that it is a special thing. It is an amazing thing. It is an honorable thing to find a man or a woman with a hoary head that are still in and they are found in the way of righteousness. And you might say, well, you know, you made a joke about the present earlier. I don't think you should make jokes like that. Well, here's the thing. Being old does not necessarily just in and of itself mean that that's worth honor. And obviously we should be respectful to anyone and especially elderly people. But I will tell you something. Our country is full of a bunch of old people that are wicked. In fact, our country is being led by a bunch of old people that are wicked. So simply being old does not mean that we should honor you or there's something special about you. But I will tell you this. There is something very special about the 28 seniors we've got in this church. Why? Because the hoary head is a crown of glory if it be found in the way of righteousness. Someone said that the Christian life is not measured in years. It's measured in decades. Don't talk to me about how many years you've been living for God or how many years you've been a soul winner or how many years you've been reading the Bible. If you want to impress me, let me know how many decades you've been living for God. How many decades you've been a soul winner? How many decades you've been reading the Bible? The hoary head is a crown of glory if it be found in the way of righteousness. Keep your place there in Proverbs. We're going to come back in that area. 2 Timothy 4, if you would. 2 Timothy, you should have your place there in 1 Timothy if you just flip over to 2 Timothy. 2 Timothy 4. You can just keep your place there in 2 Timothy. We're going to be coming back and forth. I want you to notice what the Apostle Paul said. 2 Timothy is the last letter the Apostle Paul wrote. Presumably, he's an older man, an elderly man. At the time of this writing, in fact, he's coming to the end of his life. 2 Timothy 4 and verse 6. I want you to notice what he says. This should be the prayer that every Christian has and it should be the prayer that everyone has to be able to get to the end of their life and say this. 2 Timothy 4 verse 6. For I am now ready to be offered and the time of my departure is at hand. Paul says, look, I'm ready. Our goal in life ought to be to get to the end of our lives, to get to the place where we know that death is near and to be able to say, I am ready. I'm ready to meet my Maker. I'm ready to go into eternity. I'm ready to go home. He says, for I am now ready to be offered and the time of my departure is at hand. And he says this, he says, how can you say that you're ready, Paul? How can you say that and have that assurance? Obviously, he has that assurance regarding salvation because he knows that he's on his way to heaven. But he has that assurance with regards to his life because he says there in verse 7, he says, I have fought a good fight. He says, I have finished my course. He says, I have kept the faith. So I will submit to you this morning that to reach your full potential as a senior saint, you must determine to finish the Christian life well. You must determine to be found in the way of righteousness. You must determine to be able to get to the end of your life and say, I have fought a good fight. I have finished my course. I've kept the faith. Keep your place there in 2 Timothy and go to the book of Ecclesiastes, if you would. Ecclesiastes, chapter 7. If you kept your place in Proverbs, right after Proverbs, you have the book of Ecclesiastes. Proverbs, then Ecclesiastes. Ecclesiastes, chapter 7. I'm giving you 8 statements this morning regarding how to reach your full potential as a senior saint. And of course, this applies to the older believers in our church, but all of us are getting older. I remember when we started the Baptist church, my wife and I started this church a little bit over 12 years ago in our living room. And I was, I don't know, 25 years old or something like that. And it seemed like every week of my life, during those years, every week we would have visitors in church. And I thank God for that. And one thing that I would hear every week, people would say, You're the pastor. You're so young. You're the pastor. You're so young. And my response would always be, Well, I'm getting older every day. And people stopped saying that. I'm not sure why. Nobody seems to really say that to me anymore. Now they say, You're the pastor? Wow. But to reach your full potential as a senior saint, you must determine to finish the Christian life well. Number 3, to reach your full potential as a senior saint, you must encourage the next generation and try to help them. To reach your full potential as a senior saint, you must encourage the next generation and try to help them. Let me say this, and I thank God for the seniors in our church, and I don't think this characterizes them. But I will say this, that it does characterize a lot of seniors, and maybe I would say most seniors. And again, not the seniors in our church, but I've noticed that this tends to be an attitude with older people. And it is this attitude, it is this thing where they tend to have a bad attitude towards younger people or towards the next generation. And this idea where older people, and again, I have not seen this in our church. As far as I know, in our senior saints, they love the Lord, and they love all of us, and they care for us, and they help us, and I thank God for that. But this is a thing that is very common among older people, where they have this attitude that, Ah, the next generation is useless, and they're dumb, and they're messing everything up. And I can understand to an extent where that would come from, but that is not an attitude that we should have as Christians. In Ecclesiastes chapter 7, now the interesting thing about the book of Ecclesiastes is that Ecclesiastes was written by an old man. This is Solomon at the end of his life, with a lot of perspective regarding years of his life. And here's what he says in Ecclesiastes 7 and verse 10, of course we know this is the Holy Spirit and the Word of God. He says, Say not thou what is the cause, that the former days were better than these. And what he's saying is, don't go around talking about and asking, why is it that the former days were better than these? Here's what he's saying, don't go around talking about the good old days, and how great the good old days used to be, and how things used to be a lot better. You know, and look, I realize obviously we can see the trends in our culture, and we can see that things are getting worse. The Bible says that the world is waxing worse and worse, and we get that, and we understand that, and I'm not minimizing that. But let me tell you something, the things that we deal with today, people have dealt with throughout the generations. There is no new thing under the sun, there's always been wickedness, there's always been those who hate the work of God, there's always been those who have talked the Word of God, and we should not have this attitude that says, that talks about the good old days, like now those were the days, but now nothing can be done. No, Solomon says, Say not thou what is the cause of former days, that the former days were better than these. He says, For thou does not inquire wisely concerning this. And what he's saying is this, look, we ought to be happy and content, and realize that yeah, you know, as a Baptist preacher, I can look back on the 70s and 80s and 90s, and a time when our nation was more conservative, and people like Ronald Reagan were in the office, and it was just a normal thing for men to wear suits and tights. And look, during those days, yeah, fundamental Baptist churches were a big thing, and you can look at men like Jack Hyles or Lee Roberson or Curtis Hudson, and they had thousands of people in their churches, and people can say today, Well, those days are gone, and those days are this, and those days are that. But here's all I would say is, look, we live today, this is the world that God has given us, this is the time that God has given us, and yes, is the culture different? Yes. Is the battles different? Yes. Are we being attacked in ways that those men never were? That is true, but we're also reaching people in a way that those men never could. Through the internet and through technology and through all the resources that we've been given, and all I'm saying is this, don't ever take this attitude that, Oh, things used to be better, now they're, look, all I'm saying is this, the older people today should have an attitude that says, Yes, maybe things have changed and they've gotten worse, but they should look at the next generation. I'm not talking about the LGBTQ young people, I'm talking about the people in this church, and look at that generation and say, Hey, you're the hope for America. And I hope one day when I'm 70 years old, I'll look at the men and women that are filling the pews of Verity Baptist Church and churches like it, and I'll look at them and say, I love you, I want to help you, I want to invest in you, I'm for you. To reach your full potential as a senior saint, you must determine not only that you're not done and you still have more to do, you must determine that to finish the Christian life well, and you must determine to encourage the next generation and to help them and to try to help them and not have this attitude that everything's bad. And look, I realize things are not, they've always been bad. Go to Titus, if you would, Titus chapter 2, if you kept in place in 1st or 2nd Timothy, after 2nd Timothy you have Titus, Titus chapter 2. You ought to invest in the next generation. You know, I'm thankful for my parents. I won't give you their ages, but they're older, and I'm thankful for it. My dad sometimes jokes around with me because he likes to go on mission strips, and he'll go to mission strips here and there in Mexico and all these different places, and he'll joke, I'm the oldest one there. And he'll say it like, I hope people don't mind, I'm the oldest one there. You know, these young people, they don't want to go soloing with an old guy, and I get what he's saying, but you know, I'm proud of the fact that my dad is the oldest one there. That's something that gives me, that makes me proud, you know, in a positive way. You know, I'm thankful for Brother Ray Anderson. Pastor Anderson's father is a member of our church, literally has been a member of our church since literally day one, and I'm thankful for that. I'm thankful for older people in our lives that have gone before us, and you know what they've done along the way? They've encouraged us along the way. And specifically, I'm talking about my parents, my dad and my mom and Brother Ray and Miss Denise. You know, they've been, they were here when I was 25 years old, and they didn't have this attitude saying, ah, you're just some 25-year-old kid, you're just an idiot. Here's the thing, I was an idiot, and I'm sure I'm still an idiot. But they had this attitude that said, hey, you know what, why don't we help this young pastor and his young wife? Why don't we love on this young family? And why don't we encourage them along the way and help them along the way? And I'm just here to tell you that to reach your full potential as a senior saint, you must encourage, you must determine to encourage the next generation. This is what the Bible teaches. Titus chapter 2, if you're there, look at verse 3, the Bible says the age of women. The age of women. Again, we're talking about when the Bible would refer to an aged woman, it's a woman that's 60 years old and up. The age of women likewise, that they be in behavior as becometh holiness, not false accusers, not given too much wine, teachers of good things. Verse 4, that they may teach the young women to be sober, to love their husbands, to love their children, to be discreet, chaste, keepers at home, good, obedient to their own husbands, that the word of God be not blossom. You know what the Bible says? That the age of women should encourage and teach the young women in some of these areas to be sober and to love their husbands. Not to have this attitude to say, oh, your kids are just so obnoxious and annoying. You know, my kids were good. It's funny how everyone always remembers their kids being a lot better than they were. And sometimes I want to look at people and say, like, I know you're adult children. Don't tell me they were good. We should have this attitude that says, I want to invest in the next generation. I brought this up last Sunday night. It was on my mind because Brother John put it in my head. But I mentioned Ms. Joyce and Brother Vijay. Brother Vijay and Ms. Joyce, Brother Vijay was a pastor in India for many years, and Ms. Joyce was a pastor's wife, of course, and they've been an encouragement to us. And Ms. Joyce, every week, she has something to say to my wife. And it's always encouraging. It's always encouraging. And it's always something, and you know, the ministry can be so discouraging at times, and sometimes all people want to do is pick you apart and tell you everything you're doing wrong. And it's so refreshing to know that there's someone there who's experienced it and who's dealt with it. And I know that every time Ms. Joyce is speaking to my wife, she's speaking encouragement into her. She's telling her, you're doing a good job. And she's loving on her, and I'm thankful for that. I'm thankful for Brother Vijay. And every time, I remember Brother Vijay first started coming to our church, and he would encourage me in my preaching, and he would say things like, you remind me of a young me. And I would take that as encouragement. I'd say, praise the Lord. Now he says things like, and I hope it's okay for me to say, now he says things like, you have surpassed me, and I'm thankful for that. And I'm not sure that that's true, but that encourages me. And I just say to you, to reach your full potential, as a senior saint, you must encourage the next generation. You must be for the next generation. You must lean in to that next generation and try to help them. Try to influence them and try to help them succeed. Go to 2 Timothy, if you would, 2 Timothy 1. I'm giving you eight statements regarding how to reach your full potential as a senior saint. Here's statement number four. To reach your full potential as a senior saint, you must invest in your grandchildren and try to influence multiple generations. We've seen these verses recently, but I'd like you to see it again, 2 Timothy 1 and verse 5. Paul speaking to Timothy, he says, when I call to remembrance the unfeigned faith that is in thee, this is Paul speaking to Timothy. He says, which dwelt first in thy grandmother Lois, and thy mother Eunice, and I am persuaded that in thee also. I love this verse because it gives you not only an insight into the power and influence of a mother, but the power and influence of a grandmother. And if you're here this morning and you say, well, I've already raised my children, and this is something that often older people say to me and I understand what they're saying, and I appreciate, they mean it as an encouragement, oftentimes people say to me, I wish I would have heard these sermons when my kids were little. I wish I would have heard some of these things and learned some of these things when I had them in the home, and I understand that. But I would say to you, if you're a grandparent, you're not done. And maybe your kids are raised and out of the house, but if you've got grandchildren, then you can influence those children, those grandchildren for the glory of God. So you must determine to invest in your grandchildren and try to influence multiple generations. Go back to Proverbs, if you would, Proverbs chapter 17. My wife's grandparents were heavily influencing and involved in her life. She often talks about her grandparents in such a positive way, and her grandparents were Catholic. They were not Baptist, and unfortunately, as far as we know, they weren't saved. And my wife tried everything in her power to give the gospel to her grandparents, and they just never received it. But even with that, they were moral people, and they were good people, and they loved their grandkids, and they invested in them. And I would just say to you that you do not know the power that you have. So as a grandparent, you must invest in your grandchildren and try to influence multiple generations. And again, I'm thankful for my parents. Just recently, my daughter had a birthday. Elizabeth had a birthday just a few days ago, and my nephew, Daniel, he has their cousins, of course, and they're the same age, and their birthdays are just a few days apart. And my parents took them both out and took them out for lunch and got some ice cream or yogurt or something like that. And I appreciate that. I'm just here to tell you, that's the influence of a grandparent. Don't take this idea that, well, I'm retired now, and I'm retired from my family as well. No, look, if God has given you children and grandchildren, then see yourself as your goal to reach into that next generation, to love on that next generation, to invest in that next generation, to try to reach that generation for the glory of God. I'm thankful for my mother-in-law. My mother-in-law is saved. My wife has gotten her mother and her siblings saved, and she doesn't go to church. But I mean, I think she comes to our house, I don't know, every other week or once every three weeks and just spends time with the grandkids. And look, I'm just telling you that we often do not realize what we value until we no longer have it. And I would just encourage you to not live your life that way. Live your life with your funeral in mind, and that might not sound very positive, but live your life in such a way where you ask yourself, what would I want my grandkids to say? What would I want my kids to say? What would I want my spouse to say? What would I want my fellow church members to say about me at my funeral? And live that way. Realize that to reach your full potential, you must invest in your grandchildren and influence that generation. And look, I see it visually in my mind, I see it as trying to reach past generations. I think of that verse in Genesis where it talks about Joseph, how his children and his children's children and his children's children's children were raised on his knees. And this idea that, look, I'm in the phase of life, my wife and I are in the phase of life right now that we've got children at home. God has blessed us with six children, and we're doing everything in our power to raise them for the glory of God. And we're putting our hands there, and we're working with those kids and trying to raise them for God. But all I'm saying is that once those kids are grown and out of the house, and they start having children, then I'm going to try to reach into that generation. And if God gives me health, and those kids have kids, and I've got some great grandchildren, I'm going to try to reach into that generation. And I want to try to help. My job is not to raise those kids, but I want to try to help their parents raise those kids for the glory of God. And it's a good thing to love on these kids and to encourage them and to try to encourage them to obey their parents and honor their parents. And so you must invest in your grandchildren if you want to reach your full potential. Go to the book of Ecclesiastes, if you would. We were already there. I'm not sure if you have your place in Proverbs, just right after Proverbs, you have Ecclesiastes or you might be in Ecclesiastes. Let me give you the fifth statement this morning. We're talking about how to reach your full potential as a senior saint. You must realize that you're not done. You still have more to do. You still have more potential. You must determine to finish the Christian life well. You must encourage the next generation and try to help them. You must invest in your grandchildren and try to influence multiple generations. Here's number five. To reach your full potential as a senior saint, you must be active and stay in good health. You really need to focus as you get older on staying active and being in good health. The funny thing to me is that young people who don't necessarily need to like to spend hours on their health, and what we have to realize is that really as we get older, we need to devote more time maybe towards our health. And I'm not talking about becoming a 60-year-old bodybuilder or something, unless you want to. I'm just saying go on walks and just staying active and staying in good health. We know that as we get older, our bodies are going to begin to slow down and decay. So you've got to make it a priority to stay in shape, to stay healthy, to stay. I'm calling out all sorts of names now, and I'm probably going to get myself in trouble, but I think about Brother Ronnie, and here's a guy that stays in shape. I'm 37 years old, and I'm thinking one day I'd like to be as healthy as him. It's good to stay healthy, and my dad goes on bike rides and walks. It's good to do these things, to reach your full potential. You must be active and stay healthy. And look, we realize your body is going to decay, and it's going to begin to slow down. That's normal. In fact, the Bible highlights that in Ecclesiastes 12. I just think it's interesting because we need to be aware of it. Ecclesiastes chapter 12 and verse 1, the Bible says, Remember now the creator in the days of thy youth. Usually we bring this verse up for young people, and it's good. Remember now thy creator in the days of thy youth. But here's why you should want to try to remember thy creator in the days of thy youth. While the evil days come not. And the evil days is talking about not necessarily bad, sinful days, but hurtful days. The word evil means to be hurt or in pain. You know, as we get older, things start hurting, right? While the evil days come not, nor the years draw nigh, when thou shalt say, I have no pleasure in them. Look at verse 3. In the days when the keeper, he begins to describe the evil days. And what he's doing is he's using an allegory to describe old age and the body breaking down. He says, In the day when the keepers of the house shall tremble. And I don't mean this in any sort of disrespect. It's just what the Bible is saying, and it's true. Oftentimes as bodies grow older and elderly people will sometimes shake and tremble, it's because our bodies are, because of the sin in this world and because of the sin nature. He says, Even the days when the keepers of the house shall tremble and the strong men shall bow themselves, often as a result of age, maybe people begin to kind of bow down and to hunch a little bit. He says, And the grinders cease. This is a reference to teeth and losing teeth because they are few. And those that look out the windows be darkened. This is a reference to losing your eyesight and your eyesight beginning to dim. Verse 4, And the doors shall be shut in the streets when the sound of the grinding is low, and he shall rise up at the voice of a bird. And this is often, not everyone, but often as people get older they become much lighter sleepers and anything kind of wakes them up. Even they rise up at the voice of a bird and all the daughters of music shall be brought low. Verse 5, Also when they shall be afraid at that which is high. And this is a common thing as we get older. We start to be more afraid of heights. You don't generally see 70 and 80 years old on roller coasters and things like that. And fear shall be in the way and the almond tree shall flourish and the grasshopper shall be a bird and Zaire shall fail because no man, notice what he says, look at the last part of verse 5. Because man goeth to his long home and the mourners go about the streets. And of course this is a reference to death. And what the Bible is saying, look the Bible is saying as our bodies get older they're going to begin to slow down. They're going to begin to decay. We're going to begin to lose our teeth and we're going to begin to lose our eyesight and our strength and our body. We understand that. But your goal as an older person is to stay as active as possible, try to stay in good health. You say why? Because of the fact that you still have things to do. And because of the fact that you've got people all around you that love you and we want you around as long as possible. And Ms. Joyce has said to me several times, she says I want to see these kids grow up and get married. She says I have to stay here at least another 20 years, see these kids grow up. And I say praise the Lord. I want you to see them grow up and get married. Help us raise them. Ecclesiastes 12 verse 7, then shall the dust return to the earth as it was, is a reference to the body. And the Spirit shall return unto God who gave it. You know, oftentimes as we get older we get discouraged about the fact that our bodies are changing and weakening. But let's always remember that as the body begins to return and as the body begins to prepare to return to the earth, all that means is that when that happens, the Spirit shall return unto God. And we don't have to see death as an end, we can see death as a beginning. And though our bodies because of sin and the sin nature are decaying, look, we are born dying. And as we get closer to that time, we can take comfort in the fact that the Spirit, look, my body is getting older and even me in my late 30s, I often feel, my body feels older. I tell people, like, I don't feel older. You know, the me, I don't know, my soul or my mind, you know, I don't feel old. Sometimes my body feels older, looks old. But, you know, the Spirit doesn't get old. The body will return to the dust of the earth, but the Spirit shall return unto God who gave it. And praise the Lord for that. Go to 2 Corinthians, if you would, 2 Corinthians chapter 12. In the New Testament, you have Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, Acts, Romans, 1 Corinthians, 2 Corinthians, 2 Corinthians chapter 12. I've got eight statements. We're on statement number six. I think we're making good time. To reach your full potential as a senior saint is what we're talking about. Here's statement number six. To reach your full potential as a senior saint, you must prepare financially for the years that you cannot work and, if possible, leave an inheritance. And I say if possible because it's not always possible and it's not the number one thing that should be what we strive for. But let me just say this and maybe let me just say more for the younger people here. You should do, because you're the ones that have time, you should do everything in your power to prepare financially for the years that you cannot work. And, if possible, leave an inheritance. 2 Corinthians chapter 12 and verse 14 says this, Behold, the third time I am ready to come to you, and I will not be burdensome to you. Notice he says, I will not be burdensome to you, for I seek not yours but you. For the children, and he's talking about their things. And he's talking about as a pastor, but he's about to make a statement that applies to parents and children. He says, Behold, the third time I am ready to come to you, he says, and I will not be burdensome to you. He said, I'm not going to burden you. He said, I seek not yours but you. And what he's saying is, I'm not after your things, I'm after you. I'm not trying to get your stuff, I'm trying to get you. He said, that's why I'm coming. But when I'm coming, he said, I'm not going to be burdensome to you. It's not going to cost you anything. He said, I'm going to pay my way. You say, why would he say that? Here's why. He says, for the children ought not to lay up for the parents, but the parents for the children. And what he's saying is that he's their spiritual father, and he's saying, children should not be paying the way for the parents, but the parents for the children. And of course, he's speaking spiritually here, and I believe this. Oftentimes, I get asked to preach, if I get asked to preach at a big church or a bigger church, like Faithful Word Baptist Church or whatever, you know, it's a different situation. But we've started five churches here at our church, and oftentimes I might get asked to go preach there to help them with something, or maybe it's their anniversary and to encourage them for something. We're talking about smaller churches with 30 people in them, 40 people in them. And oftentimes, you know, we tell these churches, hey, yes, I'll come, but you know what, don't worry about it. Our church will pay the way. We'll cover the cost, and I'll, you know, we'll pay the gas or whatever, and we'll get there and do that. And you say, I can't believe you're spending that money on other churches. Well, you know, the Bible says that the children are not to lay up for the parents, but the parents for the children. And we started those churches, and we've got 200 people here, and we're doing okay financially, so if we can go help a church with 30 people in it, we're not going to burden them. And we're going to help them, and we've helped churches. We've helped churches pay their rent, and we've helped other churches do things, and I'm not saying that to brag. I'm just saying that the children are not to lay up for the parents, but the parents for the children. And spiritually, we mean that in a spiritual sense, but that also applies physically. And look, I believe, and go to Proverbs if you would, Proverbs chapter 19. Proverbs chapter 19. The Bible teaches that children should care for their parents in their elder age, and I believe that. I believe, and I realize it's not always possible, and sometimes it just can't happen in the way that life goes, and there are facilities where older people can live, and I understand that. I'm not attacking that. I'm just saying that the Bible teaches that if an older person has children, when they can no longer care for themselves, or if they can no longer care for themselves, then their children should step in and care for them. There's a place for the church to step in as well and help if certain characteristics have been met. I believe that. Here's what I don't believe, and I'm not attacking anybody because I realize even in our church people have different philosophies, and I'm not against you if you have this different philosophy, but I'm the pastor and I'm the one that's preaching, so I'm going to tell you what I think, and I do not have this mentality that says, my six children are my retirement, and I'm going to burden them on taking care of me when I can no longer care for myself. You say, why would you take that position? Because I will not be burdensome to you, is what Paul said. I want to say to my children, I seek not yours, but you. I'm not after your stuff, I'm after you. For the children, not to lay up for the parents, but the parents for the children. And what I mean by that is this, to the best of my ability, I want my wife and I to prepare for the days that we cannot work. Now, I've got to do a lot of explaining because there's so many questions that come with this, and I just want to answer it, especially in a sermon like this, because people are going to listen to it, and I want to answer it. My goal is to work till the day I die. I don't plan on ever retiring, and maybe I'll die in the pulpit. I don't know, that might not be good, I'm not sure. I mean, it'd be funny to me, but the rest of you might not like that. But my goal is to just work till I die. But sometimes I hear people say this, well, I'm just going to work till I die, and so therefore I don't need to retire. Hey, great, I have the same mentality. I don't think I'm ever going to retire. I may not always pastor this church. I may do other things in the ministry as I get older, but I'm never going to retire. But also, let's remember this, that I don't know what a day will bring forth. And though I plan to work till I die, I may not, and I plan to try to stay as healthy, and my wife and I to try to stay as healthy as possible in our older age so that I can continue to pastor until a long age and do those things. I have to realize that I don't know what a day will bring forth, and maybe though I want to work, I may not be able to physically. And in those instances, and the Bible does teach that my adult children should take care of me, but the point that I'm making is they should take care of us, but I don't want to be a burden on them financially. And this became very real to me many years ago, and I should have asked my wife because I have a horrible memory, and I'm going to ask her right now, but my wife's grandmother came to live with us for a while. How old was your grandmother, honey, when she came to live? She was 91. How long did she live with us? About a year, and how old were we when that happened? 29? So my wife's grandmother came to live with us from Washington. She was 91 years old, and we were like 29 years old. And we were happy to. Obviously, my wife did all the work, but we were happy to care for her physically, and her mind was sharp, but her body was deteriorated. And she needed to be bathed. She needed to be changed. She needed all sorts of things, and my wife stepped in and took care of her, and I believe that God's going to bless us for that. But you know, I'm thankful for this. She also had a lot of medical needs, and she needed to have a nurse come into our home on a regular basis, I think once a week or maybe more than once a week, and she had a lot of medications and things. And here's what I'm saying. The 29-year-old Pastor Jimenez and Ms. Joanne were happy to bring in my wife's 91-year-old grandmother into our home, and she lived with us, and she had her own room, and my wife cooked her breakfast, lunch, and dinner, and helped her with the bathroom, and bathed her. We're happy to do that, but here's what I'm saying. If we would have also had to pay her medical bills, that would have ruined us. We would not have been able to. And we were thankful for the fact that she had finances so that loving grandkids could come in, a loving granddaughter could come in and physically care for her, but she paid the bills for herself. She was paying for herself and paying for her doctor's bills and all that, and here's what I'm saying. That should be your goal. Yes, I do believe that adult children should care for their parents, but I don't think that you should see your children as your retirement, because I don't think it's fair to put it on a 28-year-old that has a couple of ... I mean, 29 years old, I don't know, we had like three kids or four kids at the time. We're trying to start a church and get a church going. I don't think it's fair to put that burden. So you should try to prepare financially for the years that you cannot work, and if possible, leave an inheritance. Go to Proverbs 19. Proverbs chapter 19. And look, I'm thankful. I mean, just recently, my parents just recently did some legal things and got some things in order for them, and I don't think they're going anywhere for a long time, and I'm praying they're not, but I'm thankful that they have taken the time to organize some things so that financially they're taken care of themselves. And obviously, us three children, none of us are going to let my parents ... None of us are going to let them go into some sort of home or facility, and we're going to care for them, but I'm thankful that they've taken the time to organize some things to make sure that their needs are met financially and that they're not going to burden us with that, or we'd be happy to carry that burden, but they love us enough to not want to burden with us, and that's a good thing. And of course, they want to leave an inheritance, and I'm thankful for all of that. Proverbs 19 and verse 14, house and riches are the inheritance of fathers, and a prudent wife is from the Lord. House and riches are the inheritance of a father. So I think if it's possible, we should want to leave an inheritance. House and riches are the inheritance of a father, but let me just say this. Not only ... Well, there's so many things. Let me say a couple of things. If possible, you should prepare financially so that if you cannot work, and I think if you can work, then you should work. That's part of staying active, but if you cannot work, then you should prepare financially for that. You should prepare financially for if you cannot work and there's medical bills that you can try to take care of that so that a loving child, son, or daughter, or grandkid can step in and help physically, but not be burdened financially. And then you should try to leave an inheritance if you're able to, if things work out that way. Let me say this. You should try to leave an inheritance to the church, and maybe I'm giving more information. My sister was the one helping my principal with this, and I don't know all the details. Obviously, I trust them, and I know enough and all of that, but I will say this. My dad made one thing clear, because he was talking about when they pass and how the money's going to whatever and all that stuff, but there was one thing he said, and all of you are expected to tithe, and praise the Lord for it. He's been teaching us to tithe since I was a kid, and he's like, when I'm dead, you better tithe. If we leave you anything or whatever's left over or whatever, praise God for that. We just had another, I won't give any details, but we just had somebody in our church, an older person, and they situated some things, and they're making sure that when they pass, by God's grace, hopefully not anytime soon, that the church has left something as an inheritance. And look, I think that's a good thing. I think every young person here should have a goal to not only leave something for their children, but make sure that something's invested into the ministry. But let me just say this, go to Proverbs 16. If you say, that's not me, that's never going to happen, I don't have the money, I don't have whatever, hey look, let me tell you this. The best inheritance that you can leave is a goodly heritage. And if you can, that's why I say, prepare financially for the years that you cannot work, and if possible, if possible, leave an inheritance. But if that's not possible, because look, you may have a whole lot of money and some nest egg, but then you go through some big major health thing at the end of your life that eats all of that up, that's okay. You understand that? That's not, it's not like, and then I didn't. Look, you prepared for your life, and praise the Lord for it, but let me just say this, if you get to the end of your life, and maybe your husband had some big medical thing and it ate up all the money you had, and you had some big medical thing and it ate up all the money you had, and you have nothing left to be able to give the children and grandchildren, you know, the greatest thing that you could give them is a godly heritage, and a goodly heritage. Psalm 16 and verse 6, here's what David said, David said, The lines are fallen unto me in pleasant places, yea, I have a goodly heritage. And I praise God for that, and you know, I do thank the Lord that my parents have made plans to leave us something and all that, and praise God for that, but if they didn't leave us one cent, I would be thankful for the fact that they left me the Bible, they left me salvation, they left us raising us in a Christian home and teaching us to love God and teaching us to be soul winners and teaching us to be Baptist, and you know, that's better than anything they could leave us. And our goal should be that our children would say of us one day, the lines are fallen unto me in pleasant places, yea, I have a goodly heritage. So you ought to plan and prepare financially for the years that you cannot work and if possible leave an inheritance, but if not a financial inheritance, then you know what, then leave an inheritance of godliness. Leave an inheritance of being a soul winner and loving God and reading the Bible and loving the Lord, then leave that inheritance. It's better than any monetary inheritance you could leave. Go to Psalm 92. Psalm 92. Here's number 7. Let me read you the first and then I'll give you the statement. Psalm 92 and verse 14. Psalm 92, 14. They shall still, this is about elderly people, older people, they shall still bring forth fruit in old age. They shall be fat and flourishing. I love that phrase. They shall still bring forth fruit in old age. They're bringing forth fruit in their young age and they're still bringing forth fruit in their old age. You know that your older years could be your most fruitful years spiritually. And let me just say it this way, number 7, to reach your full potential as a senior saint, you should retire into the ministry. You should retire into the ministry. You say, what do you mean by that? I heard a pastor say this one time. I was listening. It was at a conference and he was talking about older people in his church. And this guy was a guy that had a big church. But he said this and I thought, that's very interesting. He said, I teach our older people. And this guy, this man himself was in his mid-70s at the time. He said, I teach our older people to retire into the ministry, to retire into the ministry. And this was an independent formal Baptist. He had a big church and a Bible college. Of course, he was speaking at a conference. But he gave an example of how they had a man in their church who worked for years in the post office and he was pretty high up in the post office and kind of ran different things or whatever. And when he retired, this man, and I'm not condoning Bible colleges, I'm not necessarily for Bible colleges, but this pastor that was saying this, he had a Bible college and of course they had dorms and things like that. And as a result of having hundreds of students, they had this whole system of mail that had to come in and out. And he said, when this man retired from the post office, he went to the pastor and said, if you would allow me to, I've been doing postal work for all these years and if you would allow me to, I'd like to run the mail system here and I know how to do it. And he did it. He said, he comes in every day, Monday through Friday in his retirement and he takes care of all that for them. And here's what I'm saying, is that you should, I'm not saying you need, when I say work, I'm not saying you need to work at your job for the rest of your life. But I am saying this, you might retire from your job, but don't retire from life and don't retire from God. And you may want to consider that you retire into the ministry. I remember hearing another man. Same thing, different ministry, different pastor, but a guy, this was actually the editor of the Sword of the Lord. And he was probably 80 years old when he said this, but he talks about how he didn't use the term retire into the ministry, but he says that they often encourage their older people to do the same thing. And he talked about a man who retired in their church and he said, Pastor, you know, I'm going to be here every day, Monday through Friday. Once I'm retired and I'm just, whatever I can do, I'll do it. And it's not like he works eight hours a day and sometimes he takes a day off and things like that, but he's there and they've got, you know, and he was saying at their church, what they do is that they do all the errands that need to be run because there's tons of errands that need to be run all the time. And instead of, you know, sending staff to go buy this and buy that where they just kind of let that whole list kind of, they just created a list of things that needed to be purchased. And when he would come in, he would go and run all those errands and go pick up this and pick up that. And I'm not saying that we need that. I'm not. I'm just saying this. You should have this mentality that you want to retire into the ministry. And just to kind of help you understand my philosophy, go to Matthew chapter 20, if you would. Matthew chapter 20. You know, I've said that I may not pass. I may not. Maybe I will pass to this church till I die. I don't know. I know this, that a man that stands up and preaches three times a week has to be able to hold an audience and have, you know, and have that and sometimes as we get older, maybe we're not able to do that. But what I'm saying is this. Maybe as I get older, I may have to step down one day. I know some of you are like, when? What day? It's years from now, okay? Decades from now. But I may have to retire from being a pastor, but I'm not going to retire from the ministry. You say, pastor, what would you do once you're no longer pastoring? Let's say you're 60 or 65 years old and you're no longer pastoring and doing the daily administration of being a pastor. What would you do? I don't know. We started five churches in the last 12 years. It might be another 30 years before I get out of this thing. And I don't know, maybe we'll have 25 or 30 churches at that point that our churches started. And I think it might be a great thing as a 65 year old man to go around and maybe help some of these young churches. I know when I was 25 and 26 and 27 and 28 years old and our church was younger and I was working a full time job and I had nobody that could preach. I mean, now our church has grown, obviously, and I've got a lot of men that could preach and fill the pulpit if I need them to. There was a point in our ministry where I had to preach every single sermon. Even if I worked 60 hours at my secular job and even if I was traveling and doing this and doing that, I mean, there was times where I was traveling somewhere and I'd preach on a Wednesday night and we'd drive for 12 hours that night after whatever service and I'd preach somewhere for two nights and then we'd drive. I mean, we were crazy with four kids and 12 hours straight to get here for Sunday morning. Obviously, I don't have to do that anymore and I praise the Lord for it, but I'm saying that there might be some young preachers when I'm 65 where I can just come in and say, hey, if you want, I can preach for you and take a day off. Take your wife out on a date. Relax. I don't know what we can do. I'm just saying, I know this. I'm not going to just go sit somewhere and do nothing all day. And you've got to retire into the middle. Obviously, if your health does not allow you to do that, I'm not attacking that. Obviously, sometimes your health doesn't allow you to do things and we need to plan for that. The point that I'm making is this, if you have the health and the ability to, you should stay active. And one way you can do that is to retire into the ministry. Number eight, this is the last one and we'll be done. I would say that this is probably the most important one, but let me just read this to you. I kind of have to explain this parable and I'll do it as quickly as I can. Matthew chapter 20, verse 1. In Matthew chapter 20, we have this famous, well-known parable of the laborers. In Matthew 20, verse 1, the Bible says, For the kingdom of Heaven is like unto a man that is an householder, which went out early in the morning to hire laborers into his vineyard. Here's a man that went out to hire laborers early in the morning. Early in the morning, the Bible is 6 a.m. Verse 2, and when he had agreed with the laborers for a penny a day, he went, he sent them into his vineyard. And he went out about the third hour, so he goes out at 6 a.m., hires some laborers, they agree, I'm going to pay you a penny a day, and they go work for him in the vineyard. In verse 3, the Bible says, and he went out about the third hour, that would be our time, 9 a.m., so three hours later from 6 a.m. to 9 a.m., he goes out the third hour and saw others standing idle in the marketplace and said unto them, Go ye also into the vineyard, and whatsoever is right I will give you. So notice with group 1, they agreed on a penny a day. With group 2, they didn't agree on anything because they're getting a late start. He said, you just go work and whatever is right, I will pay you. You just trust me and I'll pay you whatever I think is right. And they went their way. Verse 5, again he went about the sixth, that would be 12 p.m. or noon, and the ninth hour, that would be 3 p.m., and did likewise. And about the eleventh hour, that would be 5 p.m. So the workday is from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. This is the eleventh hour, 5 p.m. There's one hour left in the workday, and about the eleventh hour, he went out and found others standing idle. They've been standing idle all day and say unto them, Why stand ye here all the day idle? They say unto him, Because no man hath hired us, he saith unto them, Go ye also into the vineyard, and whatsoever is right, that shall ye receive. So they said, you just go work for an hour and I'll pay you, whatever is right, I'll pay you, just go work for an hour. Look at verse 8, So when even was come at 6 p.m., the end of the workday, the Lord of the vineyard saith unto his steward, Call the laborers, and give them their hire. He said, Get all the workers over here, and let's pay them. He said, But when you pay them, I want you to do it this way, beginning from the last unto the first. Said, I want you to pay the guy that's been here the least amount of time first, and the guy who's been here the longest, pay him last. So from the last unto the first. And when they came that were hired about the 11th hour, so the guys that showed up and they'd only been working for one hour, they started working at 5 p.m., the 11th hour, they received every man a penny. I want you to notice that a penny is what the group that started at 6 a.m., they agreed upon a penny a day. What did that tell us? It tells us that a penny was something they agreed to, so it was a suitable payment for a full day's wages. But these people started working at the 11th hour at 5 p.m. They worked for one hour. They didn't know what they were going to get paid. They just went to work, and the man in the house said, I'll give you what is right. And when they got paid, they received every man a penny. Look at verse 10. But when the first came, so the guys all the way at the end of the line, they saw that the guys that had been working for an hour got paid a penny, and so they assumed, and by the way, you always get yourself into trouble when you make assumptions. They assumed that, well, if they got paid a penny, then we're going to get paid, even though we agreed for a penny. We said we would not go to work unless we got at least a penny, and we signed a contract and shook hands and said, you're going to pay me a penny a day. They assumed that they were going to get paid more. But when the first came, they supposed that they should have received more, and they likewise received every man a penny. And when they had received it, they murmured against the good man in the house, saying, these last have wrought but one hour. They said, these last have only worked one hour, and that has made them equal unto us, which have borne the burden in the heat of the day. But he answered one of them and said, Friend, I do thee no wrong, didst not thou agree with me for a penny? Now I want you to notice that the primary application of this parable is that those of us that are young should not go into the service of God with this mentality that says, well, God, I will serve you if, and try to make a deal with God. The idea is, look, you just let God pay you, let God reward you, and he'll give you more than you need. If you try to make a deal with him, then that's all you're going to get. That's the primary application. That's not what I'm preaching about. What I'm preaching about is these people that showed up at the 11th hour. Verse 14, take that thine is and go thy way. I will give unto this last, even as unto thee. Is it not lawful for me to do what I will with mine own? Is thine eye an evil because I am good? So the last shall be first, and the first last, and many be called, but few are chosen. And here's statement number eight that I want to make to you. To reach your full potential as a senior saint, you must realize that God values and rewards your work, here's the key, even if you're coming in late to the game. As you might say, well, this whole sermon is nice and good if I was one of these senior saints that had been serving God since my 20s, but pastor, I'm new at this thing, I'm older and I just got saved, or I'm older and I just got in church, or I'm older and I've just been doing this thing. You know, do any of these things apply to me? And here's what I'm saying to you, that it's okay to be an 11th hour Christian. Obviously, we'd rather get you in early as possible, and that's what we're trying to do with these young people in this church. But if you say, I'm older, because some of you, even not just elderly, some of you are just, man, I've already raised my kids, I wish I would have heard this, I wish I would have known this, so many wasted years. And let me tell you something, you can start late in life and God will still value your work. God will still reward you. In fact, these people got in at the 11th hour, the 11th hour of the workday, the last hour, and they got paid the same as everyone that had been, why? Because they weren't trying to make deals with God. They just said, hey, I just got an hour to give you, can you use it? And God says, I'll use it and let me pay you for it. Oftentimes, and I understand this, oftentimes older people can, the preaching of this church is so specific and so applicable that it can be difficult for some older people that maybe have some regrets, and I understand that. Let me just remind you, because we all have regrets, that there's nothing you can do about your past. And the Apostle Paul said, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forth into those things which are before. And you need to just forget about what you could have done or should have done, or if I would have known, I would have done. And realize that all you can do is what is before you now, but you can serve God today. And don't sit there and say, well, if I would have gotten this thing earlier, if I would have gotten in in the third hour or the sixth hour or the ninth hour, well, look, that would have been nice, but you got in at the 11th hour, so why don't you just make the best out of that hour? All I can tell you is this, that God will value it and He'll reward you for it, even if you're coming in late in the game. So what I'm saying is this, just give your life to God now. Give Him your time. You say, well, I didn't give my 20s. Okay, but can you give Him your 50s? Well, I didn't give Him my 30s. Okay, but can you give Him your 60s? Well, I didn't give Him my 40s. Okay, but can you give Him your 70s? I didn't give Him the first hour or the third hour or the sixth hour or the ninth hour, but can you give Him the 11th hour? He'll reward you, and He'll make it worth it. You know, you might get to heaven and find that you get as many rewards as people that gave you this whole life because your attitude is right. Go to Isaiah 46. I've got to be done, and I'm going to be done in three minutes. While you turn there, let me read to you from Leviticus 19. I'm going to read from Leviticus 19. You go to Isaiah 46. You have to be placed in Proverbs. After Proverbs, you have Ecclesiastes, Song of Solomon, and Isaiah. Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, Song of Solomon, Isaiah. Let me just say something to the young people or younger people in this church, and what I mean by that in the context of this sermon is 59 years old and down, which for some of you is really good news. We as younger people should honor the older Christians. Leviticus 19 and verse 32 of the Bible says, Thou shalt rise up before the hoary head, and honor the face of the old man, and the fear of thy God, I am the Lord. And you know, you young people, and especially you teenagers, but I would say you men as well, when a man or a woman walks up to you and they've got a hoary head, they've got some white in their head, when they walk up to you, the Bible says, Thou shalt rise up before the hoary head. So you young people are sitting there hanging out, and one of these elder Christians walks up to you and says, Hello, you stand up. So why would I do that? Out of respect. That's what the Bible says. Thou shalt rise up before the hoary head, and honor the face of the old man. And let me just say this, to the 28 members of this church, attenders of this church that are seniors, let me just say that I appreciate you, and I love you, and I thank you for the testimony that you have in this church. And I want you to know that we love you, and we honor you. And let me just say this to the not-so-young people, the three score years old and up. In Isaiah 46 and verse 4, the Bible says this, And even to, Isaiah 46 and verse 4, And even to your old age, this is God speaking, And even to your old age I am He, And even to whore hairs will I carry you. I have made, and I will bear, Even I will carry, and I will deliver you. I often emphasize when God makes a baby, you know that God looks down at some older man, some older lady, and He says, I made you. I made you when you were a baby, I made you when you were young, I made you when your skin didn't have the wrinkles, and when your hair did not have the white. He said, I have made, and I will bear, Even I will carry, and will deliver you. You say, how long? Even to your old age. Even to your old age I am He, And even to your whore hairs will I carry you. So the older age gets difficult, and I understand it, and it can get lonely, especially if you lose a spouse, it can be lonely. I want you to know that you have a church here that loves you, and young people that want to honor you, and if you would allow us to, we would like to be part of your life. And I feel like you need us, but we need you, and we need your encouragement, we need your experience, and even if the experience is, hey, listen to what the pastor is saying, I wish I would have heard that. But let me tell you, when you're feeling alone, and when you're feeling tired, and when you're feeling down, the same God that made you will bear you, and carry you, and deliver you. He is God, even to your old age. Ms. Barhead tonight, we want to pray our Heavenly Father. Lord, we love you, and we thank you. I do thank you for the older people in our church, and the blessing they are to me and my wife. Lord, I pray that you would encourage them, and help them to stay in this thing, and stick with it. And Lord, I pray for all the younger, not-so-old people in this auditorium today, that they would all decide, you know, I want to end right. I want to be like the Apostle Paul, and say, I am ready. I have finished my course. I have kept the faith. I fought a good fight. Lord, I pray you would help all of us to get there. In the matchless name of Christ, we pray. Amen. We're now Brother Matt, come up and lead us in the final song. Let me just quickly remind you that tonight is our graduation service, and I want to encourage you to be here tonight. If your kids are participating in the graduation service, then we need you to be here at 5 p.m. So please don't forget about that. And for the rest of you, we want to encourage you to be here at 6 p.m. We're going to have pizza after the service, pizza and fellowship. And even if you normally, you say, I don't normally come on a Sunday night, then just make an exception and come tonight. And we'd love for you to be here. I think you'll enjoy it. You'll have a good time. It's always fun to see these kids graduate. Let me just say this. You just heard a whole sermon about investing in the next generation. Come support these kids as they graduate tonight, as we honor them for their accomplishments. We'd love for you to be a part of that. 6 p.m., if there's anything we can do for you, please let us know. We'll have Matt come up and lead us in a final song. Turn to song 232. Two, three, two. Two hundred thirty-two on the first. Tell me the story of Jesus, I love my Lord and Lord. Tell me the story most precious, Sweetest and happiest Earth. Tell me all the angels in the office, Sing as the God of the Earth. If you're reaching your desires, Please send your tidings to the Earth. Tell me the story of Jesus, I love my Lord and Lord. Tell me the story most precious, Sweetest and happiest Earth. On the second. Fasting alone in the desert, Tell what the days are past. The forces he was tempted, Let us lay out with the past. Tell of the years of the Savior, Tell of the sower he buried, He was the slice and the pickle, Of the sweetest of all. Tell me the story of Jesus, I love my Lord and Lord. Tell me the story most precious, Sweetest and happiest Earth. On the last. Tell of the cross where they held him, Why he gave rest for me. Tell of the grave where they laid him, Tell how he gave it for her. Tell me the story so tender, Better than ever and sweet. Say that we weep all you wish for, Love take the ransom for evil. Tell me the story of Jesus, I love my Lord and Lord. Tell me the story most precious, Sweetest and happiest Earth. Amen. .