The Bible speaks on occasion of gray heads and gray beards.....implying that there is wisdom that comes with age. There is no guarantee of that though as one might look at a photo of someone like George Bernard Shaw. It was at least forty years ago....and my wife invited a lady friend over for dinner and conversation afterwards. This lady was a librarian and liked to display her reference capabilities. The conversation moved along to Christianity. She and I poked and explored a little....until she looked at me and said...."You know....you should read George Bernard Shaw's....Why I Am Not A Christian....at which point I got up from my chair....walked over to our bookshelves....and pulled down George Bernard Shaw's....Why I Am Not A Christian....with highlighter and rebuttal all through it.
Abraham Lincoln's Gettysburg Address begins with...."Four score and seven years ago...." God's Word in Psalm 90:10....this in the King James Version reads...."The days of our years are threescore years and ten."
No....age does not guarantee wisdom....but it is a nice ending to a life of seeking to learn. At three score and ten years....and five years....with no snow on top....rather it looks like volcanic ash....I have gathered opinions and often stand on a soapbox of sorts and speak them. Here is but one....
As you might read through that wonderful 119th Psalm of 176 verses....you will see time and again the writer's reliance on God's precepts....His law....which to us would be His whole word. Nothing in this material world is as valuable as God's word....but there is something immaterial....(spiritual rather than physical)....that is just little bit more valuable....and that is the preached Word....that same Bible....preached....for there is an additional power there....that the theologians would call a....'means of grace.'
If this is the case....and I believe that it is....then we Christians must hear the preached Word of God....on a Lord's Day basis....preached by a man who has the power of the Holy Spirit upon him. What is eternally problematic is that this is an age where the overall preaching is extremely weak. Hey....there was a day when the Pittsburgh Pirates had an awesome team for many years in a row....and apparently today has been a day....where the team has been extremely weak for many years in a row. That's the concept. This is not a good or even acceptable age for preaching. It happens! If you are satisfied with it and not willing to consider anything else....there is little that I can do other than offer examples of preaching from the past.....but in this post....I only want to encourage you....(an understatement of the year)....hold on to your robe until you listen....pound on your door at night until you answer.....take it upon yourself to commit to finding and listening to these sermons from men of the past.....Spurgeon or Martyn Lloyd-Jones and others....and men today who preach like those men of the past.....Sproul and MacArthur and Horton and Piper and others. Do this to supplement what you claim that you are satisfied with. Your opinion will change in due time!
Afterthought: Preaching is God's way to bring mortification to us where it is needed. Without it there is no self-examination. Without it we think that we are doing just fine. Without it we cannot see our errors. Without it we will remain in our rebellion....but thinking that God is very pleased with us. This is not an easy thing. No one wants to be laid out in tears....but this is a godly sorrow that leads to repentance and joy indescribable....that it is not us....but it is Him that is our salvation!
